
Class X-2=S.^3. 

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COPVRIGHT DEPOSn^ 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER IN 
SOUTH AMERICA 




c^ 



A 

COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER IN 

SOUTH AMERICA 

Being 

the Experiences and Impressions of an American Business 

Man on a Trip through Panama, Ecuador, Peru, 

Chile, the Argentine and Brazil 

BY 
FRANK WIBORG 




Illustrated 



NEW YORK 

McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. 

MCMV 






lUSPARYof WNQRttSS 
I'Wu Oopies rtacoiysH: 

StP il 1905 
copy 6. f 






Copyright, 1905, hy 
McCLURE, PHILLIPS & CO. 

Pvblished, September 1905 



rS 
h 



i,(?"- 



TO 

a. @. m. 

Who couldn't go and 

didn't want the writer to go, 

this Kttle volume is 

affectionately 

dedicated 



FOREWORD 



FOREWORD 

1 AKEN all in all, there have been a good 
many books written on South America and, 
looked at from a standpoint of numbers, 
there may be little excuse for adding an- 
other. But conditions in South America 
have been changing so rapidly in the past 
twenty or thirty years that books on the sub- 
ject, written even ten years ago, are out of 
date, and those written earlier than this are 
of no use whatever to the traveller, or to the 
student interested in present economic con- 
ditions. 

The American business man is slowly 
awakening to the fact that while the United 
States is complacently regarding what is 
[ix] 



FOREWORD 

called the American invasion of Europe, and 
while American business interests in the 
Orient are being jealously guarded both by 
skilful diplomacy and the persuasive pres- 
ence of armed forces, yet right at our very 
doors the trade of a great continent is slip- 
ping beyond our reach, and, while we are 
talking, Germany, England, and France are 
engaged in a commercial invasion of Am- 
erican soil, and meeting with little or no op- 
position from us. How has this come about ? 
How does it happen that a people, ordinar- 
ily the most enterprising on earth, for once 
stands back and without protest allows 
other nations to carry off the plum of com- 
merce ? Well, business men have said to me : 
" Why go to South America ? Haven't we all 
we can do here at home ?" This sort of rea- 
soning can not be serious, for American busi- 
ness men know too well that even if to-day 
we have all we can do at home, it behooves 



FOREWORD 

US to prepare for to-morrow. As in all other 
vital organisms the law of business life is 
growth or decay; and the moment growth is 
checked decay sets in. A flourishing business 
at a standstill is a contradiction of terms ; yet 
it is what those men are looking forward to 
who think home markets will be enough to 
engage our attention for all time. A truer rea- 
son than the one offered for our indifference 
to South American trade is the fact that the 
business methods of South America are not 
our methods, and South America insists 
upon retaining her methods, refusing to con- 
form to ours. Now, the American is so cock- 
sure his methods are the best in creation 
that, for a situation like this, he has neither 
patience nor tact. So long as there is no im- 
mediate and pressing need for new commer- 
cial fields, therefore, he is willing to hug a 
cherished prejudice and to look askance at 
South America. England and Germany, on 

[xi] 



FOREWORD 

the contrary, face the situation squarely, and 
meet the South American on his own foot- 
ing. This is the secret of their great success. 
As a result of their affability, South America 
trusts them, and believes that they are sin- 
cerely interested in her welfare. But she 
doubts our friendship, and it seems to me 
not surprising that she does. 

Though there has been no general Am- 
erican invasion of South America, many 
firms in all parts of the country have for 
years been sending representatives there. 
These men, selected for the most part for 
peculiar reasons, have often been incapable 
of introducing properly the products in their 
charge, and by their ignorance and their mis- 
takes have, in many cases, harmed the busi- 
ness interests they represented. For a com- 
mercial traveller in South America, an un- 
derstanding of Spanish or Portuguese has 
been considered a prime requisite of such im- 
[xii] 



FOREWORD 

portance that very often an intimate know- 
ledge of the wares in hand — the first quah- 
fication of a good salesman at home — is 
overlooked altogether. 

In the early part of 1904, the misun- 
derstandings and business entanglements 
brought about by an incapable representa- 
tive, made it necessary for The Ault & Wi- 
borg Company of Cincinnati to send a mem- 
ber of their firm to South America to 
straighten matters out. This mission fell to 
me. I left New York on the 19th of January, 
1904; crossed the Isthmus of Panama; then, 
making many stops, went down the west 
coast of South America as far as Valpa- 
raiso; crossed the Andes and the pampas of 
Argentina to Buenos Aires; and up the east 
coast of South America to Rio Janerio. Thus 
I passed over a great part of the geographical 
extent of South America and I had, besides, 
an excellent opportunity to meet many 
[xiii] 



FOREWORD 

classes of people, and to see many strange 
customs. 

A number of my business friends have per- 
suaded me that an account of my journey, 
apart from the particular business for which 
it was undertaken, would be of general in- 
terest. If much the same ground has been 
gone over by other writers, I can only plead 
that, so far as I know, no one has approach- 
ed the subject from exactly my point of 
view, namely : that of an American business 
man. Yet I have not dealt in statistics; any 
one who wishes can find statistics presented 
fully in such publications as the "Statesman's 
Year Book." My effort has been to give a gen- 
eral impression of the country, and to cor- 
rect as far as possible some of the woeful mis- 
conceptions that I find prevailing every- 
where. If I fail to hold the reader's attention, 
I beg him to place the blame on me and 
not on South America, for in spite of the 
[xiv] 



FOREWORD 

assurances of my friends, that they have been 
deeply interested in what I have to say, I 
reahze what risk they are taking in advising 
me to write for others what I have spoken 
to them. As in case of success I shall ask 
these same friends to share it with me, so in 
case of failure I devoutly trust that they will 
voluntarily stand by me. 



[XV] 



CONTENTS 

FOREWORD 

The Books on South America — Euro- 
pean Invasion of South America — 
American Salesmen in South America 

— The Writer's Mission — The Writ- 
er's Point of View ix-xv 

CHAPTER ONE 

FROM NEW YORK TO PANAMA 

Preparations for Journey — Misgivings 
of Friends — Sailing — Fellow Pas- 
sengers ON THE "City of Washing- 
ton " — Harbour of Colon — Colon 

— The Panama Railway — The Cha- 

[ xvii ] 



CONTENTS 

ORES River — The Canal — De Les- 
SEPs's Plans — The Second French 
Company — Tide-water or Lock 
Canal — Machinery and Sheds of 
Canal Co. — Encampment of Amer- 
ican Marines — La Boca — City of 
Panama — Grand Central Hotel — 
Native Troops — Parks — Panama at 
Night — Hospital Park — Soldier 
Ants — Business Conditions and 
Prospects in Panama 3-22 

CHAPTER TWO 

DOWN THE COAST TO GUAYAQUIL 

S. S. Guatemala " — Bay of Panama — 
Freight and Live Stock and Smells 
Aboard — Crossing the Equator — 
Gulf of Guayaquil — Guayas River 
— Mountain Scenery in Ecuador — 
City of Guayaquil — Lunch at Hotel 
de Paris — Panama Hats — Cacao 
[ xviii ] 



CONTENTS 

Trade — Culture of Cacao Bean — 
Labour Question in Ecuador — Peon- 
age, ITS Causes and its Results . . 23-38 

CHAPTER THREE 
PERU AND ITS CAPITAL 
Coast of Peru — Paita and its Virgin — 

EtEN PaSCASMAYO " HUACHOS " — 

The Swedish Scientists — " Cab- 

ALLITO " SaLAVERRY HaRBOUR OF 

Callao — Lima from a Distance — On 
Close View — Pizarro and the Found- 
ing of Lima — The Cathedral — 
Story of Atahualpa — Political His- 
tory OF Peru — Santa Rosa de Lima — 
Peruvian Congress — House of Depu- 
ties — The United States Minister — 
A Sunday Afternoon Bull Fight — 
Metropolitan Club — The Union 
Club — Chorillos — The Oroya Rail- 
way — Calloa — Its Exports — The 

Swimming Club 39-61 

[xix] 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER FOUR 

THE GUANO AND NITRATE COUNTRY 

Cerro Azul — Chincha Islands — Gu- 
ano — Rainless Condition of the Ni- 
trate Coast — Prayers for Rain — 
Pisco and its Wine — Modesty of Na- 
tive Bathers — Mollendo — Last of 
Swedish Scientists — Railway Trip to 
Chachendo — A Beautiful Indian 
Boy — Arica — The Disputed Prov- 
inces — Peru's Alsace-Lorraine — 

PiSAGUA, IqUIQUI, AND AUTOFAGASTA 

The Nitrate Industry — Huascho — 
CoQUiMBO — The Starlight Nights , 62-77 

CHAPTER FIVE 

VALPARAISO AND SANTIAGO 

Harbour of Valparaiso — The City — 
Buildings — Shops — Newspapers — 
Street-Cars and Women Conductors 
[XX] 



CONTENTS 

— The Bronze Lions of Lima — Fune- 
rals BY Night — The Albion Vina del 
Mar — American Minister — Trip to 
Santiago — Distances in Santiago — 
Natural Setting of the City — Cerro 
DE San Lucia — Game of Basque Pe- 
LOTA — The Alameda — Cousina Park 

— Quintal Normal — Agriculture in 
Chile — Governmental Efforts to 
Keep People Amused — The Opera — 
Extravagance of Chileans — The Ro- 
man Church — Civil Marriage . . 78-94 

CHAPTER SIX 

ACROSS THE ANDES TO BUENOS AIRES 

The Two Routes from Valparaiso to 
Buenos Aires — Sunday Morning at 
THE Railway Station — Trip to Los 
Andes — The Narrow Gauge to Sal- 
to del Soldado — Coach Ride to El 
JuNCAL — Road House at El Juncal 
[xxi] 



CONTENTS 

AND Moonlight — Ascent of La Cum- 
BRE — View from La Cumbre — The 
Peace Monument — Descent to Las 
CuEVAS — Aconcagua — Puente del. 
Inca — Mendoza — A South American 
Sleeper — The Argentine Pampas — 
Great Stock Farms and Wheat Fields 
— The Italian in the Argentines — 
English Brains and English Capital 

— Argentine's Foreign Trade — Nec- 
essary Trend of Argentine's Devel- 
opment . 95-108 

CHAPTER SEVEN 

BUENOS AIRES 

First Impression of Buenos Aires — 
American Minister — Palermo Park 

— Battle of Flowers — Size and Pop- 
ulation of City — The Jockey Club 

— Club del Progreso — Strangers' 
Club — Mr. Cassells and His Story 
about Englishmen and Americans — 

[ xxii ] 



CONTENTS 

La Prensa — La Prensa's Dispensary 
— A Reservoir — An Election for 
Senator — Theatres — Vaudeville — 
Mr. Barrett's Appointment to Pana- 
ma — Buenos Aires the City of Erias 109-122 

CHAPTER EIGHT 

A GLIMPSE OF MONTEVIDEO IN REVOLUTION 

From Buenos Aires to Montevideo — 
Difficulty in Landing on Account of 
Revolution — The Reds and the 
Whites — A Warfare on Animals — 
Population of Montevideo — Re- 
sources OF Uruguay — The Experi- 
ence OF AN American Widow — Short- 
est Way Home from Montevideo . 123-128 

CHAPTER NINE 

FROM SAO PAULO TO RIO JANEIRO AND HOME 

The Trip to Santos — The Docks — 
The Heat — The Sao Paulo Railway 
[ xxiii ] 



CONTENTS 

— City of Sao Paulo — State of Sao 
Paulo — Coffee Industry — Coffee 
Output — Journey to Rio — The 
Sights of Rio — Area and Population 

— Surrounding Hills — The Bay — 
The Streets and Houses — Rua Ouvi- 
DOR — The Tilbury and the Street- 
Cars — The Lottery — Summer Re- 
sorts — TiJUCA — To Petropolis by 
Ferry and Train — Life of Foreign 
Residents at Petropolis — Quaran- 
tine Regulations at Rio — A Talk 
under Difficulties — Last Farewell 
Reception — The Unvarying Cour- 
tesy OF American Residents — " S. S. 
Byron " — Fellow Passengers — Dis- 
cussions ABOUT Brazil; The Rich 
Resources of Brazil; Its Drawbacks 

— Bahia ; Its Industries — Per- 
nambuco; Its Harbour; Its Indus- 
tries — Bridgetown; Its Pleasant 
Social Life — Voyage to New York 129-148 

[xxiv ] 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER TEN 

SOME OBSERVATIONS OF OUR TRADE WITH 
SOUTH AMERICA 

European Business Supremacy in South 
America — Lack of Interest on the 
Part of America — Growing Commer- 
ciai. Importance of South America — 
Introducing American Goods — Ob- 
stacles IN Way of Our South Amer- 
ican Trade — Need of Better Facil- 
ities OF Communication and Trans- 
portation — Better System of Bank- 
ing AND Collections — Varying Mon- 
etary Standards of South America — 
The Money of Brazil, the Argentine, 
Peru, Chile — The Class of Repre- 
sentatives TO Send to South America 
— The Matter of Language — The 
Business Methods Not to Emfloy — 
Care in Filling Orders for South 
[xxv] 



CONTENTS 

America — Suggestion that More 
American Heads of Firms Visit South 
America — Now the Time to Increase 
Our Trade 149-159 



[xxvi ] 



^ 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Harbor of Rio Frontis'piece 

FACING 
PAGE 

Panama Canal — Culkbra — View Look- 

/ 
iNG South 16 ^ 

The Harbor of Panama 24 / 

Map of South America 28 '' 

HuACHos FROM Pascasmayo 42 

A Caballito 44 

AvENiDA DE Mayo — Buenos Aires . . 110' 

Gathering Coffee Beans 130 

Botanical Gardens — Bamboo Trees . . 134 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER IN 
SOUTH AMERICA 



CHAPTER ONE 

FROM NEW YORK TO PANAMA 

1 HE prospective traveller in South Amer- 
ica might do well not to seek information too 
earnestly beforehand. For some reason of all 
the countries, little known to us in the 
United States, there is none with quite such 
an all around bad name as South America. 
One's friends and acquaintances have heard 
only disquieting rumours and protest against 
one voluntarily going to a place which is 
overrun with yellow fever, or, at least, may 
be any moment, or if not that, devastated by 
a revolution. Of course, it is a land of yellow 
fever and revolutions, and any one looking 
for one or the other will likely be successful. 
[3] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

One has to concede that much, though de- 
claring at the same time his firm conviction 
that he, at any rate, will be able to pass 
through unharmed by either. Unfortunately, 
the insurance companies, when consulted, 
do not share in this conviction. Like one's 
friends, they shake the head ominously, and 
gravely state: **It is a very serious risk. In- 
deed, a man takes his life in his hands when 
he goes to South America!" 

Moreover, to the other discouragements 
that were offered the present writer, a final 
one was added, when, a few hours before 
sailing, the man who was to accompany him, 
who had been in the country before and 
knew something of the language, wired sud- 
denly that it would be impossible for him to 
go. Consequently, it was in a rather subdued 
frame of mind that I boarded the steamship 
"City of Washington" in New York Har- 
bour on the bleak afternoon of January 19, 
[4] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

1904, with South America my general, and 
Colon, Isthmus of Panama, my particular 
destination. 

Yet, once aboard, misgivings vanished, 
and after a day or so at sea I found myself 
again looking forward to the expedition in 
high spirits. My fellow-passengers were 
probably responsible for this change. They 
were typical of the people one would always 
meet going to South America. There was the 
inevitable party of English globe-trotters 
who had been everywhere, and had come to 
the conclusion that England was the only 
country on earth that knew how to govern 
herself and her colonies. Then there was the 
General — a real South American General, 
a Venezuelan by birth, a Parisian by card, a 
Revolutionist by profession, and, at present, 
on his way to Panama where, it was under- 
stood, men of his stamp were in demand. A 
naval officer with a small detachment of 
[5] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

workmen was on his way to the Isthmus to 
install the wireless telegraph. There were 
two or three engineers for work on the 
Canal; a handful of commercial travellers, 
well-stocked with stories after their kind; a 
couple of young mining engineers bound for 
Ecuador and Peru, and a group not so easily 
classified — the men who were going out to 
embark on the various risky enterprises that 
a new country always affords. In the snug 
security of New York my friends might suc- 
ceed in impressing me with the perils of my 
proposed journey, but in this company such 
fancied perils were soon forgotten. Many of 
these men could not expect to return to their 
homes for years, and then only in case of the 
success of their enterprises. And of all who 
had gone before them with like plans, how 
many had fallen into premature graves, how 
many had failed! Could these hope for a 
better fate ? 

[6] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

But no time was taken up on board the 
**City of Washington" in idle forebodings. 
Instead, the situation at Panama was de- 
fended or attacked, as the poHtics or the na- 
tionaHty of the speaker dictated; calcula- 
tions were offered as to the output of the 
placer mines in Ecuador, and the whole sub- 
ject of South American trade was thoroughly 
canvassed. 

The trip was not exciting, but, like most 
ocean voyages, devoid of any positive dis- 
comfort, was pleasant enough. One soon 
falls into the daily routine of ship life, and 
grows to enjoy it; the morning salt-water 
shower, the leisurely meals, the desultory 
reading, the deck promenades, and the long 
discussions and interesting personal experi- 
ences. 

A week's run, and we had covered the 
1970 miles between New York and Colon, 
and had exchanged the freezing winter 
[7] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

of New York for the sultry heat of the 
tropics. 

As the ship enters the tiny harbour of 
Colon, one is charmed with the loveliness of 
the scene. The low hills, grouped about in a 
semicircle, are covered with tropical vegeta- 
tion, and everjrwhere the sky-line is broken 
with groups of tall, graceful palms. 

The town of Colon is low, and from a dis- 
tance presents an attractive appearance, in 
keeping with its picturesque surroundings. 
But a closer view is very disappointing. 
Filth of every description litters the streets; 
the houses, most of which are frame, are in a 
sad state of repair, and the place swarms 
with a population of negroes and half- 
breeds. Parts of the town have been burned 
at different times, and in places the debris 
yet remains. 

On a tongue of land running out into the 
bay are to be seen the handsome villas, erected 

[8] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

by De Lesseps for himself and other of Canal 
officials. These are the first witnesses the 
traveller meets of that reckless expenditure 
which characterized the whole enterprise of 
De Lesseps from the start. From this on he 
will see evidences of it wherever he turns. 

As the Atlantic terminus of the Panama 
Railway and the Isthmian Canal, Colon is 
an important place. It is clear then, that 
whatever can be done to make it habitable, 
in an American sense, will be done soon. 
Generous filling in would certainly rob the 
marshy ground of much of its deadliness; a 
modern sewage system would certainly carry 
away much of the present filth ; and a street- 
cleaning department introducing sanitary 
methods could certainly be organized that 
would be more effective than the buzzards 
which, at present, do whatever is done in the 
way of cleaning. 

My stay in Colon was short, but even so I 

[9] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

felt it was enough. Colon is not a place I 
would choose as a home. My last impression 
of it, as seen from the train-window, was of 
the miserable houses on the outskirts of the 
town, supported on stilts, and stilts which 
rested in mud and filthy water. 

The Panama Railway runs between Col- 
on and Panama, a distance of forty-seven 
miles. It follows pretty closely the route of 
the great Canal. It crosses and recrosses the 
Chagres River, that stream of ill-fame - — 
which, with the Culebra Cut, has presented 
the most serious problem the engineers of 
the Canal have had to solve. When I saw it, 
the Chagres was a pretty little river and 
quiet enough. There was nothing about it to 
suggest the raging torrent, which, at certain 
times of the year it becomes, rising, it is 
said, with scarcely a warning, forty feet and 
more in a night. The Chagres flows to the 
Atlantic in a general northwest direction 
[10] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

from the main watershed of the Isthmus, 
which is situated about fifteen miles from the 
Pacific Coast. The watershed is drained on 
the Pacific side by the Rio Grande, which 
the railway crosses but once. 

It was the plan of the De Lesseps Com- 
pany to build a tide-water canal continuing, 
as it were, the bed of the Chagres River to 
the Pacific. The second French Company 
abandoned this plan, in consideration of the 
enormous expenditure necessary to reduce 
the Culebra Cut to such a low level, and of 
the difficulties presented both by the varia- 
tions in the height of the tides of the two 
oceans, and also by the floods of the Cha- 
gres. It substituted instead the plan of a five- 
lock canal. In this plan all danger from the 
Chagres was to be averted by the formation, 
in its course, of a huge lake, occupying a sec- 
tion of the canal fourteen miles long, be- 
tween the towns of Bohio and Obispo. Into 

[11] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

this lake, Lake Bohio, the floods of the 
Chagres could pour with little chance of 
overflowing, and be held as in a reservoir 
until needed in the dry season. 

The De Lesseps Company worked on the 
Canal from both ends, and completed at sea 
level, about fifteen miles on the Atlantic side, 
that is to the town of Bohio, and seven miles 
on the Pacific side to the town of Miraflores. 
This work is now badly choked up with 
debris, and covered from sight by the rank, 
tropical vegetation that seems to grow up in 
a night. However, it is said, that with our 
great modern dredging machines it can be 
cleared out in a short time, and at compara- 
tively little cost. 

The second French Company confined 
its excavations to the highest, most diflS- 
cult section of the canal, the Culebra Cut. 
Here an enormous amount of earth has 
been removed, but so huge is the under- 
[12] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

taking that an even greater amount still 
remains. 

Up to the present time our government 
has not decided which is preferable, the 
tide-water or the lock-canal. And it is very 
possible that whichever it decides upon it 
will work out in a new way. For instance, 
one of our engineers has presented strong 
evidence to show that a tide-water canal may 
easily be made practicable by diverting the 
course of the Chagres from the Atlantic into 
the Pacific. Such a thing has never before 
been suggested, but is now being given 
careful consideration. 

Along the whole length of the Canal one 
sees the numerous construction sheds and 
stations of the Canal Company. These have 
been kept in fairly good repair, and were some 
of the most valuable assets the French Com- 
pany had to offer the United States. The 
same cannot be said of the enormous amount 
[13] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

of machinery — overturned trucks, dredg- 
ing machines, engines and implements of all 
kinds, that are strewn about everywhere in 
great profusion. Rust and decay have done 
their work on these. But even if this were 
not so, it is doubtful whether the machinery, 
as a whole, would be of much value under 
any circumstances. Though the best France 
could produce twenty years ago, to-day it 
looks very antiquated. 

An evidence of the presence of the United 
States on the Canal strip was an encamp- 
ment I saw about midway between Colon 
and Panama, of some two or three thousand 
marines. Every possible sanitary precaution 
was being taken to preserve the health of the 
men; and I was told that, except on special 
permit, they were never allowed to make 
trips either to Colon or Panama, for fear of 
exposure to some tropical disease. 

The railroad trip across the Isthmus takes 
[14] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

about three hours and costs ten dollars, 
gold. A few miles beyond the end of the 
Culebra Cut, before reaching the station at 
Panama, the railway forks, one branch go- 
ing to Panama, the other to La Boca. The 
Canal ends, or begins, at La Boca (fhe 
mouth) which is about three miles of coast- 
line from Panama. La Boca is the property 
of the Canal Company, and is fitted up with 
docks, to which a deep waterway has been 
dredged. 

At Panama, the first thing I noticed was 
the railway station, all shot up with bullet- 
holes from the last revolution. At home we 
are apt to smile at the mention of a South 
American revolution. These bullet-holes 
made me decide that, like many other things, 
they were amusing only when viewed from a 
safe distance. 

Like most tourists, I registered at the 
Grand Central, the most expensive and, 
[15] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

presumably, the best hotel in town. It is a 
large, imposing structure, showily equipped, 
but with little real comfort for lodging and 
less for fare. However, it's the place of all 
others to meet people, and to hear the news 
and gossip of the day discussed from the 
English and Spanish and French columns of 
the Star and Herald. Moreover, it is the 
place to see things, for it is on one side of a 
pretty, little plaza or park. The offices of the 
Canal Company occupy another side of the 
plaza; the Cathedral the third; and the bish- 
op's palace the last. The hotel is centrally 
located, and with more progressive manage- 
ment it could doubtless be made to pay well. 
Panama is an ancient city. Walking 
through its narrow cobblestone-streets, I 
could almost persuade myself that I was in a 
corner of old Spain. The houses, two or 
three stories in height, are ,all built in Span- 
ish style around an open court, with balcon- 
[16] 




t 

O 

o 












IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ies extending from the upper windows out 
into the street. UnHke Colon, many of the 
buildings are of concrete. 

During the time I was there, a great deal 
of drilling was going on among the native 
Panaman troops. The commander-in-chief 
of the army, a little general who had risen 
from the ranks, was in great popular fa- 
vour; and every afternoon, at guard mount, 
the ceremony of lowering the flag was greet- 
ed enthusiastically. 

Every evening the military band gave a 
concert, one night in this park, the next 
night in another. The whole city turned out. 
There seemed to be a positive need for 
some such chance as this for gay promenad- 
ing; and I felt the government, in giving 
these concerts, did so in the hope of keep- 
ing the public amused. 

In the daytime Panama is a sleepy, quiet 
enough sort of place, but after nightfall it 
[17] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLEK 

wakes up, and one suddenly realizes what a 
"wide open" town it is. At all the hotels and 
saloons, roulette is played without the least 
pretext of restriction. The gambling, the 
loud gaiety, the cigarette smoking, the reck- 
less drinking to be seen everywhere, remind- 
ed me much of our own frontier towns out 
West. Time and again the cities of South 
America impressed me so. 

The roads in and about Panama are in a 
wretched condition. The people attribute 
this to the ravages of the last revolution, 
before the separation from Colombia, but 
the run-down state of things in general makes 
the visitor a little doubtful about putting all 
the blame upon this particular revolution. 
Under favourable conditions the drive of 
only three miles to the ruins of the old City of 
Panama, which the buccaneer Morgan 
burned more than two hundred years ago, 
would be most pleasant. 
[18] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Hospital Park, the property of the Canal 
Company, overlooks La Boca. It is laid out 
in lovely walks and gardens, palms, tropical 
fruits, trees, and ferns, and has been well 
kept up. The grounds are carefully guarded, 
and visitors are admitted only on permits 
obtainable at the Company's offices. Here 
are the spacious hospital buildings — sub- 
stantial evidence of the thoughtf ulness of the 
De Lesseps Company for the welfare of its 
employees — and the handsome homes of 
various of the company's officials. About one 
of the finest villas a sad story is told. De 
Lesseps's chief engineer built it for himself, 
and after its completion sent to Paris for his 
family. They came, and the day after their 
arrival the wife died, the next day the son. 
The tragedy cast a cloud, not only over the 
heartbroken husband and father, but over 
the house itself, which has since never been 
occupied. 

[19] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

Crossing the road in this park I observed 
a curious thing which, at first sight, was un- 
accountable. Green leaves — thousands of 
them — the size of a small oak or maple leaf, 
were moving in regular "marching" order 
alongside the road, a continuous line, as far 
as the eye could reach. It proved to be an 
army of ants, each one carrying a leaf on its 
back, which completely hid its little body. 
On closer view, I saw another parallel line 
of ants returning unloaded, or empty- 
backed, to the place of supply up a rather 
long, steep hill. The driver of our carriage 
crossing the roadway, stupidly ran over 
both lines. A few ants fell out, never to go 
back, but the broken ranks instantly filled, 
and the procession moved on unceasingly as 
before. In the tropics these members of the 
ant family are designated as " Soldiers, " for 
the reason that they work, or carry, in single- 
file alignment and close-up order. During 
[20] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the busy season they march day and night, 
laying in their supply of food. If some of the 
dirty and lazy-looking Panamans I saw in 
the city would be forced to follow the ex- 
ample of the Soldier ants, things might be 
different on the Isthmus. 

The business life of Panama seemed to me 
very dull. I talked to many of business men 
and merchants about business chances and 
conditions. All business, they thought, had 
suffered much in the recent past on account 
of the revolutions and the uncertainties of 
the times. But they saw no reason why it 
should not improve, when work on the 
Canal was once more seriously begun, under 
the direction and protection of the United 
States. While it could not be hoped that the 
coming of the United States would be sig- 
nalized by the shower of gold that fell on the 
Isthmus at the time of De Lesseps's arrival, 
yet it is confidently expected that the foun- 
[21] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

dations of a more lasting prosperity will be 
laid. 

From all I saw and all I heard, it seems to 
me, with the strict sanitary measures that 
will be among the first things our govern- 
ment will introduce — modern sewage 
systems, and an ample supply of running 
water — not only the City of Panama, but 
the whole Isthmus will be rendered a pleas- 
ant, healthful place to live and to carry on 
the huge shipping interests which the future, 
in the completion of the great Canal, has in 
store. 



f22] 



CHAPTER TWO 

DOWN THE COAST TO GUAYAQUIL 

Owing to the universal and unavoidable 
delays that one soon becomes accustomed to 
in South America, the steamship "Guate- 
mala," on which I was to continue my jour- 
ney southward from Panama, sailed three 
days late. This gave me plenty of time to ex- 
plore the town and ask questions ; but, fresh 
from New York and cold weather, with a 
good supply of winter blood on hand, I suf- 
fered so much from the heat that I felt deeply 
grateful when at last the "Guatemala" 
weighed anchor. This was on Friday, Janu- 
ary 29th. Another thing to make us all thank- 
ful to be off was the rumour, on the very 
[23] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

morning we sailed, of eight cases of yellow 
fever. 

The Bay of Panama is fully fifty miles 
across, and encloses one of the great har- 
bours of the world. It is a beautiful expanse 
of water, dotted with many islands — giving 
to-day the same general view, I suppose, 
that stout, old Balboa looked out on four 
hundred years ago, 

"... when with eagle eyes 
He stared at the Pacific.^* 

From old Panama, and from certain of the 
islands in the Bay, he, and after him, Pizarro 
and other daring Spaniards, fitted out vari- 
ous expeditions for conquest and explora- 
tion. Many of them went southward by 
much the same route that we are to follow, 
and everywhere we shall come upon remind- 
ers of them in the cities they built, and in the 
customs they introduced. 
[24] 




5- 
O 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Calm weather is taken so much for grant- 
ed in this part of the Pacific that the steam- 
ers are built accordingly. They impress one 
as being open and exposed. There are several 
decks, and the cabins which lead out upon 
them are fitted with unusually large doors 
and windows. In this way all the benefit 
possible is derived from every breeze. 

A curious feature of steamer life is the ped- 
lars who are on for the round trip. They 
have a little of anything and everything in 
stock. When a port is made they spread their 
wares in a corner of the deck; the people 
from shore come out and some brisk trading 
ensues. It is real trading, for as often as not it 
is an exchange of merchandise. 

These steamers are like local trains, they 
make so many stops at little towns along the 
coast. Freight, of course, is of first import- 
ance, and this fact is not hidden from the 
passengers' attention as it is elsewhere. The 
[25] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

decks are always being choked up with mer- 
chandise either in process of loading or of 
unloading by pulley and crane. What is 
worse, live-s ock is penned about every- 
where, the larger animals on the lower decks, 
and the smaller above, until one accustomed 
only to Atlantic liners might wonder if he 
were not by some chance aboard a cattle- 
ship. The many smells that arise from the 
cattle, the sheep, the fowl, might seem very 
well in a barn-yard, but I did not enjoy meet- 
ing them every time I took a deck prome- 
nade. However, I didn't complain, for I re- 
membered in time the story a friend of mine 
tells about an Indianapolis pork packer. The 
people living near his packing establishment 
stood the awful smells for a long time, but at 
last entered a complaint. The case was 
brought up in a Squire's court, and the de- 
fendant after listening to the charges atten- 
tively, remarked in an injured, sad tone: 
[26] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

"Well, it seems to me that any man who 
doesn't like the smell of a hog is just a leetle 
too good for Indianapolis!" 

Now I certainly did not consider myself 
too good either for South America or for the 
steamship "Guatemala." Moreover, the 
captain and the chief steward did everything 
in their power to make my voyage pleasant 
and comfortable. I realized how much I was 
indebted to them by the plight of one of my 
fellow-passengers. From the moment he had 
come aboard this man found fault with ev- 
erything. Officers and crew alike seemed 
from past experience to recognize his genus, 
and to have ideas in common as to how it 
should be treated. As a result, the unfortu- 
nate man found just cause for most of his 
complaints before he landed. 

After the heat of Panama, the ocean voy- 
age was positively refreshing. Not that it was 
really cool; in these equatorial regions this 
[27] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

could not be expected except in high alti- 
tudes. But the trade-winds, the land-breezes 
from the Andes, and the Antarctic current 
make life here not merely endurable but 
pleasant. 

The "Guatemala" made none of the Co- 
lombian ports, although the chart showed us 
at times only one hundred and fifty miles 
from the coast. 

On Sunday, January 31st, we crossed the 
equator. Unfortunately Neptune did not 
come aboard. He had received, I fear, no 
very pressing invitation from our captain, 
who had been so long in these waters that he 
had grown careless about the respect due his 
Marine Majesty. So we had to be satisfied 
with the stories that every one told of what 
the old Sea King had done on previous occa- 
sions. And with a jolly crew ready to meet 
him half-way, what hadn't he done ? We let 
our imaginations run riot picturing his van- 
[28] 



Map OF- South Amepica. 
Showing PouteTaken 
bytheAuthop 




IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ous exploits, until we were in the condition of 
the Englishman who had just landed in 
America. He, so the story goes, had gone to a 
hotel, sent the announcement of his arrival 
to some American friends, and then with a 
sigh of relief, had sought the bath-tub. While 
he was in the midst of his splashings, the bell- 
boy pounded on the door. "Who's there.?" 
the Englishman asked. "Here's a letter for 
you," the bell-boy said. " Well, I can't take it 
now. I'm tubbing." "It's marked 'urgent,'" 
the bell-boy said, "so I'll shove it under the 
door." As it was "urgent" the Englishman 
stepped out of the tub, all dripping, and 
picked it up. " Dear Charles," he read, " De- 
lighted to hear from you. Can't you take din- 
ner with us ? Come just as you are. Don't 
stop to dress — " The Englishman looked 
up slowly, blinked once or twice, and finally 
ejaculated, "Just fawncy.?" So while we 
were reduced to "just fawncying" we made 
[29] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

the best of the occasion, and "fawncied" ail 
sorts of things. 

The next day we put into the Gulf of 
Guayaquil, passed the island of Puno, now 
pointed out to the traveller as one of the 
places where Pizarro halted on his way to 
Peru, and entered the huge mouth of the 
Guayas River. This river is the largest that 
drains the western slopes of the Andes. The 
city of Guayaquil is forty miles inland, but 
the Pacific steamers are able to make the en- 
tire distance, and load and unload in front of 
the city by lighters. 

The trip up the river is interesting and 
picturesque but very hot. The water is alive 
with native craft ; great rafts laden with pro- 
duce, floating down stream, and dugouts and 
canoes filled with Indians in bright-coloured 
blankets. Along the banks are villages of 
thatched houses built high on stilts in antici- 
pation of floods. The tropical verdure comes 
[30] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

down to the water's edge on each side. There 
are rich plantations of cacao and sugar-cane, 
groves of cocoanut palms and bananas, 
which at the height of the wet season are 
often submerged. Beyond this strip of tropi- 
cal vegetation rise the foot-hills of the Andes 
with their fine grazing lands, and beyond 
them tower the monster peaks of the Andes 
themselves. 

In all South America there is said to be no 
more magnificent mountain scenery than 
here in Ecuador. Travellers who make the 
arduous trip to Quito, the inland capital, re- 
turn delighted with the natural beauties of 
the country. The Andes extend in a general 
north and south direction in two parallel 
ranges. Between these ranges are high, rich 
plains, on one of which Quito is situated at 
an altitude of 9500 feet. The line of moun- 
tains does not extend in a series of unbroken 
heights, but lower masses covered with vege- 
[31] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

tation of vivid green alternate with the great 
white peaks, and thus make a charming di- 
versity of scene. No fewer than twenty lofty 
volcanic peaks are clustered about Quito, 
one of which, Cotopaxi, is the highest active 
volcano in the world. Another, Chimborazo, 
which to the Indian means "Mountain of 
Snow" is visible on clear days from Guaya- 
quil. I had a splendid view of it — its snow- 
crowned summit standing out distinct and 
glittering in the distance. 

Though almost in sight of these snowy 
heights, Guayaquil languishes and steams 
in the heat of the coast. The town is odd and 
very pretty as seen from the river. The 
houses, built in Spanish style with latticed 
balconies overhead, are covered with a coat- 
ing of stucco or cement, which is put on most 
artistically and produces an appearance of 
great solidity. It is a solidity in appearance 
only, for in reality, the houses are the merest 
[32], 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

shells built up on a light frame-work of split 
bamboo. This curious mode of construction 
offers the least possible resistance to the 
earthquake shocks that are of common 
occurrence. 

I called on United States Vice-Consul, Mr. 
Rheinberg, and later took lunch with him at 
the Hotel de Paris. Native oysters, fish, and 
alligator pear salad were served us in French 
fashion out on the sidewalk, where I had a 
good opportunity to watch the Guayaquil 
world go by, as well as enjoy the conversa- 
tion of my host. As most if not all of the 
commerce of the country passes through 
Guayaquil, it was a simple matter for me to 
get a good idea of the various products and 
industries. Guayaquil is the great distribut- 
ing centre for Panama hats. One sees here all 
grades of hats from the comparatively 
coarse, cheaper ones, to the fabulously ex- 
pensive ones that have been woven entirely 
[33] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

under water. It is said the supply of these 
hats never equals the demand. Many of the 
finest ones do not leave the country at all, 
but are instantly bought up by the rich plant- 
ers for themselves or their friends. 

A considerable quantity of vegetable ivory 
is sent to Europe, and rubber to the United 
States ; but by far the most important article 
of export is the cacao bean from which choc- 
olate is made. In 1902 Ecuador produced 
21,500,000 kilos of this bean, or, nearly a 
third of the total world output. 

From where I was sitting in front of the 
Hotel de Paris, I could see several large 
warehouses into which great sacks of cacao 
beans were being carried on the backs of la- 
bourers. Inside many hands were busy 
cleaning and sorting the turned-out beans 
and preparing them for shipment. 

The tree upon which the cacao grows is 
much like a bush, and from ten to twenty- 
. [34] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

five feet high. The fruit pods are rough and 
oval in shape, and of a pinkish yellow colour. 
They are filled with a white pulp of tart, 
pleasant taste, in which the beans are im- 
bedded in long rows ; from two to two and a 
half-dozen of them in each pod. When the 
beans are taken from the pod, they have to 
be well rubbed and washed, and after that 
carefully dried. If this is not done properly 
they rot. 

The large planters of Ecuador complain 
that they lose a part of their crop every year 
through inability to get sufficient labourers 
to harvest it. As in most tropical countries, 
the labour question is most serious; for, 
among the lower classes, the necessities of 
life are so few and so easily obtainable that 
there is little or no incentive for steady, day 
in and day out application. In Ecuador, the 
attempted solution of this, shall I say, clima- 
tic condition, is the introduction of the same 
[35] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

vicious system which our government found 
in force in the PhiUppines, and ever since has 
been trying so desperately to root out, name- 
ly, peonage, or debt service. To gain a hold 
on the labourer the planter offers him a 
small loan which he, with characteristic im- 
providence, eagerly accepts with the under- 
standing that he is to enter the service of 
the planter and pay back the debt little by 
little. Until it is paid, he cannot enter the em- 
ploy of any one else. As it is to the advantage 
of the planter to keep the debt unpaid, and 
as the labourer is scarcely ever a day ahead 
in his resources, it seldom happens that a 
debt once contracted in this way is ever can- 
celled. Moreover, the debt always grows, for 
fines are constantly checked against the la- 
bourer's account — if he misses a day or if 
he breaks a tool — until it actually results 
that the longer he works the more deeply he 
is in debt. Then the various members of his 
[36] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

family are drawn into the employ of the 
planter for the ostensible purpose of helping 
to lift the debt and gradually they, too, be- 
come bound body and soul The peons are 
not slaves; this is vigorously asserted on all 
sides. But they might almost as well be 
slaves, for even if their bodies are not pur- 
chasable, their debts are, and through their 
debts their service; and a planter, desiring 
the service of a certain peon, can get it by 
paying the peon's present employer the 
amount of his indebtedness. This transfer of 
debt and service is a common practice. 

Illiteracy is so widespread in Ecuador that 
the governing class, the people who by law 
can vote, are only about one-tenth of the to- 
tal population. So long as peonage obtains, 
there seems little chance of reducing this ap- 
palling illiteracy. Moreover, aside from its 
degrading effects, the system is a failure for 
it does not insure the planter reliable work- 
[37] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

men. The larger his debt, the lazier and more 
listless the peon is likely to become; and con- 
sequently, as time goes by the more he has to 
bear in harsh treatment and poor food, until 
he ends it all by dying or running away. 

Every planter one meets can tell of having 
from ten to a hundred thousand dollars in 
credit outstanding among his peons, the 
greater part of which he can never expect to 
realize. With some knowledge of how the 
planter is accustomed to reckon these 
amounts, one does not listen quite so sympa- 
thetically as he might otherwise. 



[38] 



CHAPTER THREE 

PERU AND ITS CAPITAL 

After leaving the estuary of the Guayas 
River, but a few hours pass before we are 
told that the dim line of coast on our left is 
Peru. From a distance it looks monotonous 
and uninteresting — a succession of barren 
hillocks and sandy wastes — and it does not 
improve upon nearer view. This is the begin- 
ning of the great South American desert. A 
narrow parched strip of earth between ocean 
and mountains, it extends through Peru and 
Chile about 2000 miles, and to these coun- 
tries has been and still is the source of untold 
wealth in nitrates and guano. 

The morning after we left Guayaquil we 
[39] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

passed Punta Parina, the westernmost point 
of South America, and a little later made our 
first Peruvian port, Paita. Paita is a desolate, 
little place, set in the midst of the desert, 
with nothing to justify its existence until one 
learns that it is the port for Piura, the great 
cotton-growing town and district some dis- 
tance inland, with which it is connected by 
rail. The cotton grown about Piura is brown- 
ish in colour, and of unusually long fibre 
which makes it suitable for weaving with 
wool. It is an important article of commerce 
and much sought after by European and 
American manufacturers. 

I met the United States consul and with 
him visited the church of Santa Merced, fa- 
mous for two things — its Virgin and its 
conch shells. About the Virgin, the story 
goes that, a century or two ago while an 
Englishman named Anson was sacking the 
town, one of his men entered the church and 
[40] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

with his sword struck the image of the Virgin 
on the neck. Instantly blood flowed from the 
wound, and on the anniversary of the day 
has flowed ever since. Unfortunately, the 
third of February is not the day the miracle 
takes place; so I had no chance to witness it 
for myself. The two huge shells which stand 
on either side of the church door, filled with 
holy water, are said to be the votive offering 
of a sailor whom our Lady of Paita once 
saved from death in a typhoon. 

In Paita, when I was there, it hadn't 
rained for thirteen years. This year the peo- 
ple are expecting rain. One hears similar 
stories all the way down the coast. Here it 
hasn't rained for ten years, there for a gen- 
eration, and somewhere else for such a time 
that most of the people have never seen 
rain. 

The common joke about Paita is that peo- 
ple never die there. They simply get tired 
[41] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

out. Judging from its appearance I can well 
believe that they get tired out. 

We left Paita the afternoon of the same 
day. Standing on the bridge with the cap- 
tain, I had my first sight of guano deposit, 
and I shouldn't have known what it was if I 
hadn't been told. The captain pointed it out 
to me — what seemed at that distance a 
white or greyish stretch of sandy coast. 

The next port we touched was Eten, a 
small uninteresting place made up of mud 
huts and warehouses. We stayed most of the 
day taking on board a large quantity of sugar 
and rice, the products of the rich valley a 
short distance inland. 

We left Eten at three in the afternoon and 
made Pascasmayo by six, but too late to land 
as the lighters refused to come out to us, 
thinking, no doubt, that "manana" (to-mor- 
row) would be soon enough. There is a fine 
iron mole here, half a mile long or more, 
[42] 



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i^'s JHIf^. .. '^ ■MiiA.^.A I * 


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^B^^K^Pf 






1 




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'1 




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■^■^ ^ 


NL.-*.'r>p,.-| , 






«0 

O 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

upon which freight is run out on the cars of 
the Peruvian Corporation Railway. This 
railway connects Pascasmayo with the half- 
dozen towns of the rich Jequetepec valley. 
One of these towns is Cajamarca, the ancient 
capital of the Incas, where Atahualpa, the 
last of the Incas, was murdered by Pizarro. 
The ruins of the Inca palaces still remain, 
and the room is still pointed out that the un- 
fortunate Atahualpa filled with gold to sat- 
isfy the Spaniards' greed. The country all 
about Pascasmayo is rich in ruins and me- 
mentos of the Inca civilization, and tourists 
are able to get fine specimens of the ancient 
"huachos" or pottery. 

On board the "Guatemala" was one 
group of passengers especially interested in 
such things. This was a party of three Swed- 
ish scientists, who were on an exploring and 
archaeological expedition under the auspices 
of the Swedish Geographical Society. Their 
[43] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

cards read : Baron Irland Nordenskiold, Dr. 
Nils Holmgren, and Lieut. Didrick de Bildt. 
Every stop we made they would go ashore 
curio hunting, and would return enthusiastic 
over their finds. 

Just before leaving Pascasmayo I got a 
good snapshot of that oddest of South Amer- 
ican water-craft, the "caballito" or little 
horse. This is nothing more than bundles of 
straw tied together, yet it is so seaworthy that 
it can ride the waves in all weather. As often 
as not the native sits it astride in proper 
horse fashion, and in this way not only pad- 
dles about the harbours, but makes long 
trips up and down the coast. 

Salaverry, the port for Truxillo, proved a 
repetition of the miserable coast towns we 
had been seeing; a collection of mud huts 
and a few warehouses. It is the outlet, 
though, for a rich agricultural district which 
produces much sugar. 

[44] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

We made no more stops north of Lima; 
and after a thirty-six hour run woke up on 
Sunday morning, February 7th, in the har- 
bour of Callao. This harbour with its scores 
of vessels — merchantmen, men-of-war, and 
small craft in endless variety — looked very 
different from the small ports we had been 
seeing for several days. And from the shore 
we caught glimpses of a modern city of bus- 
iness blocks and factory chimneys. The or- 
dinary sounds and sights of business activ- 
ity, however, were lacking, hushed by the 
church bells that, from all sides, were calling 
saints and sinners to mass. 

There was great bustle on board the 
"Guatemala," for most of the passengers 
had reached their destination and were all 
hurry and excitement to land. I waited for 
the captain, and after some delay we went 
ashore in a small boat. 

Putting off sight-seeing in Callao for an- 
[45] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

other time, we took the first train for Lima. 
The ten miles from Callao to Lima is over 
a rather level stretch of country, which, from 
the train-windows, looked fertile compared 
with the barrenness we had seen on this 
coast. This plain is crossed by the rails of 
two rival companies, American and English. 
There is in building an electric road as well. 
One's first view of Lima is from the har- 
bour. Its roofs and church spires showing 
against a background of Andean foot-hills, 
gleam white and picturesque in the neutral 
tints of the desert. From this distance the 
traveller might suppose he was approaching 
a city of marble. As ever in South America 
closer inspection changes all this, and in 
place of the massive stone edifices he had 
seen from afar, he finds elaborate buildings 
of sunburned brick, or mud stucco, some- 
times covered with a coating of plaster of 
Paris fancifully painted. Much of the city of 
[46] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Lima would melt away in a hard rain- 
storm ; but it never rains, so perhaps mud is 
the building material of all others best suited 
to the peculiar conditions of climate and the 
dangers from seismic disturbances. 

Overcoming our northern prejudice 
against the sham of solid appearances, we 
find ourselves interested and charmed. The 
buildings for the most part are low, and con- 
sequently the city is well spread out. Span- 
ish architecture of course prevails, and in 
the patios, or inner courts, one catches 
glimpses of beautiful flowers and shrubs in 
great profusion. Like many of our own arid 
lands of the West, water is all that is needed 
to make this South America desert blossom 
like the rose. Lima with its well cared trees 
and gardens is a good illustration of this. 

Lima is built on both sides of the small 
River Rimac, and dates back to 1535, and 
the feast of the Epiphany. In honour of the 
[47] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

day, Pizarro called it, "ia Ciuddd de los 
Tres Reyes;' or, "The City of the Three 
Kings." Later it became known as Lima, 
probably a corruption of the name of the 
River Rimac. Six years after the founding of 
the city, Pizarro was assassinated by the 
supporters of the son of his rival Almagro. 
The house where the assassination is said so 
have taken place is still pointed out, and 
what pass for the bones of the victim are still 
preserved in the cathedral. On payment of a 
small fee the monks are always ready to ex- 
hibit them. 

This cathedral, which occupies a corner of 
the Grand Plaza, is one of the finest sights of 
the city. It is of impressive and beautiful 
architecture, with two massive towers that 
can be seen for miles around. It is viewed in 
the full dignity of its proportions, for it 
stands on a marble terrace raised about six 
feet above the level of the Plaza. Inside, one 
[48] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

is sadly disappointed to find only the usual 
array of tawdry images and pictures. Orig- 
inally, the cathedral is said to have cost nine 
millions of dollars. History credits Pizarro 
with robbing the Inca palaces and temples of 
gold and silver ornaments to the value of 
ninety millions. The crown received a fifth of 
this, and the church an even larger part. So 
it was well able to build imposing edifices, 
and many of them. This cathedral of Lima is 
still looked upon as one of the most beautiful 
churches in South America. 

There are so many things in Lima to re- 
mind one of the early days of the Conquis- 
tadores that very naturally one recalls the 
spirited history that Prescott wrote on the 
" Conquest of Peru," and in particular that 
absorbing passage which relates to the cap- 
ture and death of the last Inca. Atahualpa 
had just ended a victorious campaign 
against his half-brother, Huascar, and was 
[49] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

resting, encamped on the pleasant hills about 
Cajamarca, when Pizarro with his tiny band 
of 168 adventurers appeared. The Spaniards 
were courteously received and assigned 
quarters in the town in a spacious building 
that commanded the plaza. Here Pizarro 
conceived and put into execution one of the 
most daring exploits of history. It was no less 
than to gain possession of the sacred person 
of the Inca. To this end he invited Atahualpa 
to dine with him, and the Inca, not suspect- 
ing treachery, accepted. He came attended 
by a large bodyguard, but unarmed. Scarcely 
had he entered the plaza when the signal was 
given, and Pizarro's men rushed out from all 
sides and surrounded the royal chair. The 
onslaught was so fierce and unexpected that 
in spite of their numbers the Indians were 
thrown into hopeless confusion and butch- 
ered like animals. The Spanish victory was 
complete; they took Atahualpa without the 
[50] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

loss of a single man. The ' Indian hosts 
seemed paralysed by the misfortune that 
had befallen their Emperor; and instead of 
making any effort to crush the handful of 
Spaniards, waited and trembled in a state 
of panic. Atahualpa was shown every mark 
of respect by his captors ; his personal attend- 
ants had free access to him, as well as the 
women of his household. The old Spanish 
chroniclers have only admiration to express 
for the cool, fearless demeanour that Ata- 
hualpa maintained throughout his confine- 
ment. He seemed, in fact, the only one of his 
race not one bit cowed by Spanish prowess. 
He was not long in discovering the Span- 
iards' lust of gold, and was soon negotiating 
his liberty for a huge ransom. He agreed to 
fill the apartment where he was imprisoned 
with gold as high as he could reach. So the 
Spaniards made him stand on tiptoe and 
make a mark on the wall which measured 
[51] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

nine feet from the floor. The other dimen- 
sions of the room were seventeen by twenty- 
two feet. Moreover, a smaller room was to 
be filled twice with silver. For all this the 
Inca was allowed two months. He sent 
couriers to the distant capital of Cuzco with 
orders to strip the royal palaces and the 
temples of the Sun of their precious orna- 
ments. These returned laden with golden 
cups and vases of cunning workmanship, 
and plates, discs and elaborate cornices 
torn from the walls. As the mass grew in 
bulk, the Spaniards crushed it down, and 
finally set the Indian goldsmiths to work 
melting it into ingots. At length the Inca was 
told that he might desist, but the promised 
freedom was not granted, for it seemed ex- 
pedient to Pizarro to get his royal prisoner 
out of the way at once for all. So a series of 
charges were trumped up, and Atahualpawas 
tried and condemned to a heretic's death of 
[52] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

burning at the stake. On his consenting to 
embrace the true faith the less painful mode 
of death by garrote was substituted. The Inca 
was calm and collected up to the last. After 
the execution the women of his household, 
with loud weeping and with every expression 
of extreme grief, surrounded his body. Many 
of them wished to sacrifice their own lives in 
order to accompany the spirit of their lord in 
the other world. It is this moment that a 
modern artist has seized on and pictured 
with much feeling. The prayers of the In- 
dians that they might bear the remains to 
Quito were denied, as the church claimed 
them. Later, however, it is said that his peo- 
ple succeeded in spiriting them away, and 
they are supposed to be resting to this day in 
some hidden place in Quito. 

In 1821 Peru declared its independence of 
Spain, and for the next three years was oc- 
cupied in making good its declaration. It 
[53] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

was the last Spanish possession on the main- 
land to secede from the mother country. 
Strange to say the power and influence of the 
church remained unchanged in the new re- 
public. Even the present constitution which 
provides in striking terms for political free- 
dom, plainly denies religious freedom. It 
prohibits the public exercise of any but the 
Roman religion. However, public opinion is 
tolerant, and the Methodist and Anglican 
churches which foreigners have established 
in the larger towns have not been troubled of 
late. 

In addition to her many churches, Lima 
can make the proud boast of being the birth- 
place and home of the only American saint 
in the calendar. This is "Santa Rosa de 
Lima," who was canonized in 1668, and 
whose remains to this day are lovingly cher- 
ished in the church of Santo Domingo. 

The Peruvian Congress, a senate and a 
[54] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

house of deputies, both occupy buildings of 
historic interest. The Senate Chamber is the 
old Palace of the Holy Inquisition, where 
tortures were meted out to heretics for years 
after such practices had been suppressed in 
Europe. The ceiling of the chamber was a 
gift from the monks of Spain, and dates back 
to the year 1560. It is of dark wood exquis- 
itely carved, and though now in a state of 
partial decay, is still beautiful. 

The House of Deputies meets in what 
used to be the "Collegio de San Marcos." 
This was the first university to be establish- 
ed in America. It was founded by the Jes- 
uits, under charter granted by Philip II in 
1572. 

Lima has also the remains of her once fa- 
mous museum and great library which the 
Chileans looted twenty years ago. An object 
which always attracts the attention of a for- 
eigner, is the large historical picture, "The 
[55] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

Death of Atahualpa," which hangs in the 
Exposition Gallery. This picture, notable 
both for its subject and its execution, was 
cut from its frame by the Chileans and ship- 
ped with other art treasures to Santiago. 
The protests from the foreign diplomats 
were so strong that later it was returned. 

On my arrival in Lima, I registered at the 
Hotel Maury, and then, in company with 
Captain Gronow, presented my letters to 
United States Minister, Mr. Irving B. Dud- 
ley. At Mr. Dudley's suggestion we went to 
the bull-fight, which, of course, in a Spanish- 
speaking country is always the great event of 
Sunday afternoon. Six bulls were slaughter- 
ed amid the shouts of thousands of enthusi- 
astic spectators. The hero of the occasion 
was a famous matadore from Spain who 
was making his last appearance. The crowds 
shouted themselves hoarse over him, and 
flung him cigars and cigarettes, and threw 
[56] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

their hats down into the arena, in expression 
of their approval and admiration. I was re- 
minded of a bull-fight I had witnessed in 
Madrid. The gaily-coloured costumes of the 
women, which added much to the pic- 
turesqueness of that scene, were lacking 
here; for the women of Peru when they ap- 
pear in public, are always wrapped in black 
shawl-like garments called "mantas." 

After the bull-fight, we strolled to the Met- 
ropolitan Club. Here the foreign residents of 
Lima congregate, and one meets members 
of the different legations, and the represen- 
tatives of the foreign business houses. It is 
the most exclusive club in town, and is hand- 
somely equipped. In the evening we went to 
the theatre, where there was a good vaude- 
ville performance. 

The mornings of the next few days I spent 
in business among the printers and litho- 
graphers, making headquarters at the large, 
[57] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

modern establishment of Carlos Fabbri, and 
using as interpreter a young American rec- 
ommended by Mr. Dudley. In the late after- 
noons and evenings I went sight-seeing. 

One evening I dined at the Union Club 
with Mr. Rodriguez, a Peruvian American 
whom I met in a business way. The Union is 
a fine club, and was very interesting to me, 
as its membership is made up of the leading 
resident business men of Lima. It is to them 
what the Metropolitan is to the foreigners. 

I found no opportunity to visit any of the 
pleasant, seaside resorts which are within 
easy reach of Lima, though I did go one eve- 
ning to Chorillos, the favourite one of all. It 
was the occasion of a dinner given by the 
United States Consul, Mr. Gottschalk. We 
went by train, a party of three or four, leav- 
ing Lima after nightfall. So the trip, while a 
very pleasant one, did not afford much 
sight-seeing. 

[58] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Nor had I time to take a trip on the fam- 
ous Oroya Railway. This is the railroad that 
was planned and partly executed by the 
American engineer, Henry Meiggs. It has 
been in building since 1870, but the tracks 
have not yet reached the Cerro de Pasco 
mines, the originally proposed terminus. At 
an enormous outlay of money and life, and 
by a series of engineering feats among the 
most marvellous of the age, one hundred 
and thirty-eight miles have been com- 
pleted. 

Callao, though always spoken of as the 
port of Lima, is fast becoming an important 
city on its own account. It has good streets 
that are well paved, a modem sewage sys- 
tem, and fine business blocks that are rap- 
idly increasing in number. Its exports are the 
exports of Peru — sugar, cotton, rice, cin- 
chona from which quinine is made, dyes, 
rubber, alapaca, sheep's wool, llamas's wool, 
[59] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

and the minerals, gold, silver, copper. Our 
imports from Peru in 1903 amounted to 
$2,703,646, and were chiefly in sugar and 
cotton. Our exports for the same year were 
$2,971,411 in breadstuffs and iron work. In 
the distribution of Peru's foreign trade, 
Great Britain comes first and the United 
States second. 

On my last afternoon Mr. Dudley made 
up a party for the Swimming Club at Callao, 
which has a bathing beach of its own care- 
fully fenced off. The shore, unfortunately is 
rocky, and the bathers have to wear sandals. 
To my surprise I found the water very cold, 
due, I suppose, to that same Humboldt Cur- 
rent that does so much to temper the heat of 
the whole western coast. Lima and Callao, 
though but twelve degrees south of the 
equator, have a beautiful, temperate climate 
that seldom rises above 85° Fahrenheit in 
summer, nor falls below 65° in winter. 
[60] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

After bathing, Mr. Dudley entertained us 
with the usual afternoon tea in the club 
house, and then I had to say farewell to 
Lima, and the kindly Americans who had 
made my stay so pleasant, and once again to 
go aboard the "Guatemala." 



[61] 



CHAPTER FOUR 

THE GUANO AND THE NITRATE COUNTRY 

1 HE *' Guatemala" was crowded to over- 
flowing with passengers for Valparaiso. The 
cabins were all full, and every night the sa- 
loon was turned into a temporary dormitory. 
The decks were more of a market-place than 
ever, piled with merchandise of every de- 
scription. 

We touched at the small port of Cerro 
Azul the next morning, and later passed the 
Chincha Islands, famous for guano deposits 
that at one time yielded Peru enormous 
wealth. Guano is the accumulation from 
ages of the droppings of the sea-birds, mixed 
with decomposing animal matter, such as 
[62] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the bodies of birds and seals, both of which 
frequent the coast in great numbers. These 
seals are not the seals of commerce, for their 
fur is valueless. Guano is not so offensive as I 
supposed it would be. Only once did we get 
a strong whiff of it, and that was as we were 
passing between two of the islands, and the 
wind caught us full in the face. In her hal- 
cyon days, Peru sold her guano as fast as the 
markets of Europe would buy, never think- 
ing of the time when the supply might be ex- 
hausted. When that time came, Peru lost one 
of her two great sources of income. In 
1880, when Chile took from her her nitrate 
fields, she lost the other. As a result, all she 
has left to remind her of her past riches is the 
now senseless proverb, "As wealthy as a 
Peruvian. " 

The guano, as well as the nitrate deposits, 
depends upon the rainless condition of the 
coast. Heavy rains would wash both away. 
[63] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

Every one realizes this now, but there was a 
time when it was not so generally under- 
stood. The story goes, that in the seventeenth 
century all Christendom was stirred up over 
the plight of poor people, doomed always to 
live in a state of unending drought, and by 
papal order from the Vatican all the faithful 
joined in prayers for rain. Happily for the 
next generation, a far-seeing Providence 
turned a deaf ear to these united supplica- 
tions. This story, while not an example of the 
efficacy of prayer furnishes, we are told, a 
good illustration of the wisdom of the Al- 
mighty. So be it. 

We spent an afternoon at Pisco, a miser- 
able enough little place, but having a tiny 
river of its own and a pleasant green valley. 
Pisco produces a strong, spirituous liquor 
which is in great demand up and down the 
coast. It is called Pisco, after the town, is 
clear as water, and is a powerful stimulant. 
[64] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

It is made from luscious grapes which, with 
other fruit, grow here in abundance. It is 
probable that when irrigation has increased 
the cultivable area suitable for vineyards, 
that wine-making will become an important 
industry here. 

I went ashore with my Swedish acquaint- 
ances, and while they wandered about the 
fields hunting curios and relics, I watched a 
group of natives who had come down to the 
beach to bathe. It was a mixed party of men 
and women, and I found myseK both sur- 
prised and impressed at the modesty and 
decorum with which they conducted them- 
selves. Right out there in the open they 
changed every garment before going into the 
water, but not for an instant were their bodies 
exposed. As each part of a garment, a sleeve, 
for instance, was taken off, the corresponding 
part of another garment in which they were 
going to bathe was instantly put on. It was 
[65] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

really wonderful. There was never a slip or 
mishap. A like process was again gone 
through when they had finished bathing, and 
were ready to resume their ordinary clothes. 
Afterwards I saw the same thing at other 
places a number of times, and it always ex- 
cited my admiration. 

After a short stop at the little port of Lo- 
mas, we made MoUendo, which is situated 
on a bit of rocky coast and a harbour where 
the swell is so great that landing is often 
difficult and even impossible. Mollendo is 
the terminus of the Southern Railway of 
Peru, and the outlet for a number of the 
towns of the interior — Arequipa, the 
quaint, old Spanish city where Harvard has 
her famous observatory; Puno, on Lake Ti- 
ticaca, which is connected by steamboat 
lines with the towns on the Bolivian shore; 
and Cuzco, the ancient capital of the Incas. 

At Mollendo we saw the last of the Swed- 
[66] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ish scientists. From this place they were to 
start out on their extensive explorations of 
Peru, in which they expected to be engaged 
for three years. 

The representative of the English Railway 
of Lima, a Mr. Schatzman, had come down 
with us on his way to La Paz, the capital of 
Bolivia. Some English friends were going to 
take the railroad trip from Mollendo with 
him, and he very kindly invited Captain 
Gronow and me to join them. We had the 
day to spend as we liked, so we gladly ac- 
cepted. My only regret was that we hadn't 
time to go as far as Arequipa; but that is an 
eight-hours' trip one way, so it was out of the 
question. We got no further than Chachen- 
do, a distance less, I should judge, than fifty 
miles, but reaching an elevation of 3250 feet 
above sea-level. After leaving the barren 
coast, as we climbed the mountains vegeta- 
tion improved, and I saw considerable 
[67] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

sugar-cane and coffee, and a kind of cotton 
that grows on trees. There are nicely built, 
little stations along the road, and as the train 
pulls in, Indian women and children crowd 
about with fruit to sell, native sweets, and 
bottles of "chica," the native drink. At one 
of these stations I saw a most beautiful In- 
dian boy. He was moulded like a little god in 
bronze, and had the air and bearing of an 
Inca prince of the blood royal. But he was 
only a poor, barefoot, little Indian lad, so 
poor that the thought suddenly occurred to 
me, that if I liked, I could probably get him 
and take him back with me to America. I was 
enthusiastic at once, and, in spite of the pro- 
tests of Captain Gronow, made inquiries 
about the boy of the station-master. The 
station-master was discouraging. He knew 
the boy's mother, and said she would never 
consent to giving him up; and if he were 
taken from her, she would never cease griev- 
[68] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ing. I did my best to make the captain and 
the station-master see the plausibiKty of my 
plan ; but they were sceptical and obstinate. 
Then the train started, and my arguments 
were cut short, and I was dragged away with 
nothing of my little Inca prince to bear me 
company but a sweet memory. 

From Chachendo we returned to MoUen- 
do, and sailed that same evening. The next 
morning we found ourselves off Arica, and in 
sight of the rocky Morro above which, easily 
discernible as one enters the harbour, are the 
great, white letters: "Viva Battalion No. 
4." We had reached Chile's first port, that 
is, the first of the ports in the valuable nit- 
rate zone which Chile wrested from Peru 
more than twenty years ago. The inscription 
is in commemoration of a Chilean victory 
and a Peruvian massacre which took place 
at Arica, 1880. The provinces of Arica, 
Tacna, and Tarapaca, were a part of Peru 
[69] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

before the war, and Peru still looks upon 
them as her Alsace-Lorraine. In 1880, when 
the Chilean army invaded Peru with, as 
the historian of the times puts it, nothing 
to lose in case of reverses, and everything to 
gain — riches, territory, and commerce — 
in case of success, it left in utter ruin all the 
country through which it passed, wantonly 
destroyed all property — public buildings, 
machinery, factories, private houses — and 
indiscriminately slaughtered animals as well 
as human beings. Peru, entirely unprepared 
for resistance, was vanquished and had to 
submit. By the treaty of 1883-1884, Chile 
annexed Tarapaca, and was to occupy the 
provinces of Arica and Tacna for a term of 
ten years, when a plebiscite was to decide to 
which country they should revert. For one 
reason or another the plebiscite was not 
taken in 1894, nor has it been taken since. In 
1884, Bolivia also ceded to Chile the coast 
[70] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

province of Autof agasta, which lies south of 
Tarapaca. So Chile was able to retire from 
her war not only with a good supply of art 
treasures to adorn her capital, but also with 
complete control of the richest nitrate coun- 
try in the world. Prosperity has been hers 
ever since. 

We stopped at a number of the nitrate 
towns, Pisagua, Iquique, Autofagasta, and I 
visited some of the mills or oficinas, in order 
to see something of the industry. Deposits of 
the crude nitrate of soda, called here caliche, 
are found in the pampa, or rolling plateau, 
beyond the first range of foot-hills. In some 
places this plateau is but ten miles from the 
coast; in others as far as fifty miles. The 
pampa is an utterly barren desert. On the 
surface there is nothing to tempt the heart of 
man, but a few feet down lies the nitrate or 
stratum. This presents much the appearance 
of rock salt, and varies in colour, according 
[71] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

to the purity of the deposit, from a whitish 
tint to a dark grey. The upper earth is 
blown away by a blasting of dynamite, and 
then the caliche is dug out with pick and 
shovel, loaded on iron carts, and carried to 
the oficinas. These oficinas are fitted up with 
most expensive machinery, and represent 
much capital. The caliche is first broken 
into small pieces by heavy crushers, and 
then put into large boiling vats. Inside these 
vats are coils of steam pipes, by means of 
which the temperature can be accurately 
regulated. Sea water is poured in, and the 
caliche is boiled for a certain time. The 
liquid solution that results is then drawn off 
into settling vats, which are exposed to the 
open air and the sun. Evaporation is rapid, 
and the pure nitrate of soda soon begins 
crystallizing and settling to the bottom. 
After this has gone on for some time, the re- 
maining liquid is drawn off, and the crust of 
[72] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

nitrate is scraped from the sides and bottom 
of the vat, and thoroughly dried in the sun. 
Then it is graded according to quaHty, and 
packed for shipment in one-hundred-pound 
sacks. 

From the last liquid drawn off there is 
precipitated a by-product of the caliche, 
almost as valuable as the nitrate of soda 
itself. This is a black powder from which, 
by chemical action, crystals of iodine are 
produced. 

Most of the nitrate exported is used as a 
fertilizer, but a part goes to the manufacture 
of power and high explosives. Germany is 
the largest importer, then comes France, the 
United States, Great Britain, and Belgium. 
In 1902, the latest statistics available, 
1,400,400 tons were produced, and the ex- 
port amounted in pesos to 126,407,000. The 
number of workmen employed was 24,538. 
These figures give some idea of how import- 
[73] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

ant the nitrate industry is for Chile. From 
the time of the late Colonel North, "the ni- 
trate king, " most of the business has been in 
the hands of Englishmen, and most of the 
capital invested has come from Great 
Britain. Yet Germany is also well repre- 
sented. 

The nitrate towns are even barer and drier 
and less inviting than most of the other bare, 
dry towns of the coast. To some of them 
fresh water is brought in pipes from a dis- 
tance of more than one hundred miles. Be- 
fore the day of these pipes, it used to be sold 
in the streets by the gallon. That water even 
now, though not scarce, yet is not plentiful, 
is perhaps some excuse for the awful dust 
that blows about everywhere. The smells are 
bad, too. Autofagasta, a large, busy place, 
seemed to me especially objectionable in 
this. I was not surprised to hear that small- 
pox was a very common scourge there; that 
[74] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

in the past three years it had numbered more 
victims than bubonic plague and yellow 
fever together. 

In the nitrate zone and in the country 
south of it much copper is also produced. In 
1902 Chile's copper exports amounted to 
$17,123,000. Coal, too, is mined in paying 
quantities, though for some reason the bus- 
iness of the sailing vessels which bring car- 
goes of it from Cardiff, has not yet been 
ruined. 

At the little town of Huascho, where we 
took on some bar copper, there was a sight of 
grass and trees once again, for which we felt 
very grateful after the barren, monotonous 
country we had been passing through. 

Coquimbo, our last port before Valpa- 
raiso, though not an attractive place, had 
much green to recommend it. The trees and 
shrubs were as good an indication as any 
that the great South American desert had 
[75] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

come to an end, and that we had seen the last 
of the guano and nitrate country. 

It was growing much cooler, too, and I 
was glad to change my tropical clothes for 
others of heavier weight. 

I cannot conclude this part of my journey 
without adding a word about the glorious 
nights we had been having all down the 
coast. There is, I am sure, no moonlight so 
beautiful as moonlight on the Pacific; but 
starlight is even more splendid. Night after 
night I sat on deck gazing at constellations 
that seemed to me more brilliant than any I 
had ever seen in other parts of the world. 
This was not my first glimpse of the South- 
ern Cross; but heretofore I had seen it only 
from the northern hemisphere and accord- 
ingly had been disappointed. Here, south of 
the Equator, there was no room for disap- 
pointment. It was all and more than descrip- 
tion had pictured it, and glowed in the sky 
[76] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

like the flaming cross that Constantine saw. 
It is one of the few among these southern 
constellations that the northern eye, if only 
in imagination, is familiar with, and expects 
to find. This is one reason it is always hailed 
with such joy. Another constellation espe- 
cially attractive to us is the lovely Magel- 
lan's Cloud, which sweeps across the heav- 
ens much as our own Milky Way does. 

These starlight nights are among my hap- 
piest memories of South America. 



[77] 



CHAPTER FIVE 

TALPARAISO AND SANTIAGO 

Valparaiso is the finest harbour next 
to 'Frisco on the western coast of America, 
and from where we lay at anchor that Satur- 
day, February 20th, we could see steamers 
and sailing vessels from every part of the 
world. The entrance to the Bay is no wider 
than the Golden Gate but, unfortunately, 
facing the north, it admits the fury of the 
hurricanes that occasionally sweep along the 
coast during two or three months of the year. 
For the rest of the year the harbour is per- 
fectly safe; but in the stormy season the sea- 
faring folk sleep uneasily and are ready at a 
moment's notice to put out to open sea. A 
[78] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

breakwater would remedy this, but the trav- 
eller is told the enormous cost of such an un- 
dertaking, due to the great depth of the 
water, has up to the present proved prohibi- 
tive. People still talk of the terrific storms of 
1899 when the damage on shore mounted up 
in the millions, and the incredulous are re- 
ferred to photographs taken at the time 
which show the sections of the city in utter 
ruin. 

The only excuse that Valparaiso has for 
its site as a city is the harbour. On shore the 
hills come down almost to the water's edge, 
leaving a coast plain of scant dimensions for 
man and his activities. At one place there is 
room for only one street, and at best there 
are but four. The rest of Valparaiso is scat- 
tered over the sides and tops of a score 
of hills, and so of a dark night the city 
hangs above the harbour like a black wall 
pierced by a million lights in all directions. 
[79] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

I thought of Hong Kong, yet the effect was 
different. 

Owing to its scroU-Hke setting Valparaiso 
makes a brave showing seen from the decks 
of incoming steamers. A closer view does not 
altogether dispel this impression, for the 
public buildings and business blocks are 
handsome, imposing edifices, and there are 
stores and shops filled with all the beautiful 
things that money and taste can demand, 
and everywhere the bustle of much business 
is going on and a great deal of shipping. 

Valparaiso has several newspapers and 
newspaper buildings with as fine presses and 
equipment as found anywhere in the United 
States. One that I remember in particular 
was El Mercurio, the property of a man of 
great wealth and prominence, Augustin Ed- 
wards. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. 
Edwards both here and in New York. Al- 
though still quite young — under thirty, I 
[80] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

believe — in addition to the successful man- 
agement of his newspaper and large business 
interests, he has been a force in politics. He 
also publishes a paper in Santiago. His mag- 
nificent country place midway between the 
two cities is one of the sights of Chile. 

The street cars in Valparaiso are double 
deckers, and what is more surprising, the 
conductors are women. I don't believe there 
is another country in the world where this is 
so. It seems that during the war against Peru 
such a large percentage of men and youths 
were drafted into the army that the women 
who were left alone had to do men's work as 
best they could. As conductresses they 
proved so satisfactory and honest that they 
have been retained ever since. They make a 
good appearance dressed in a neat uniform, 
and seem quite unconcerned and well able to 
take care of themselves and their cars. I 
would suggest to American women seeking 
[81] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

new fields of industry to consider the street 
cars. I should add that the platforms of the 
cars are all furnished with a small seat for 
the conductress. 

The conductresses are not the only relics 
of the war that one still sees. When foreigners 
notice two handsome bronze lions that stand 
in the public park, Chileans smile knowingly 
and if pressed, tell the story with evident sat- 
isfaction and gusto. Looking at these lions 
which were once the pride of Lima, I could 
well understand how Peru has never over- 
come the bitterness of her defeat. 

There is another custom in vogue in Val- 
paraiso as curious to outsiders as the women 
conductors. A city ordinance providing that 
bodies after death be disposed of within 
twenty-four hours, often results in the sol- 
emnization of funerals by night. So it is a 
common occurrence to see funeral proces- 
sions winding their way through the streets 
[82] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

after dusk. The flaring torches, the dark 
robes of the clergy and the mourners and the 
low chanting produce a most weird scene. 
Moreover, and this is the most surprising 
feature of all, women are strictly forbidden 
to take part in the burial services. 

During my stay at Valparaiso I was put up 
at the English Club Albion, through the 
courtesy of Captain Gronow. I met the 
American consul, Mr. Mansfield, who did all 
he could to assist me in my business mission 
and in spending my sight-seeing time to best 
advantage. On Sunday morning, in his com- 
pany, I went to Vina del Mar, — the New- 
port of Chile — which is on the railway a 
few miles from Valparaiso in the direction of 
Santiago. Vina del Mar is a delightful place 
with all the accessories of a gay summer re- 
sort; sea-bathing, horse racing, polo, tennis, 
and golf. It is built up in pretty summer 
homes and has a good summer hotel. United 
[83] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

States Minister, Mr. H. L. Wilson, and his 
family were there for the hot weather, and 
First Secretary of Legation, Mr. Norman 
Hutchinson, was visiting them for the day. 
Golf was at once a common subject for en- 
thusiasm between Mr. Wilson and me, and 
in a morning on the links we became pleas- 
antly acquainted. In the afternoon we went 
to the races which were attended by a gay 
crowd and much excitement. Horse racing is 
a prominent feature of social life all over 
Chile, for the country produces a great many 
fine horses. The animals are cheap, too, so 
even the very poor ride, and every one is more 
or less a judge of horse-flesh. 

Santiago is by rail about five hours from 
Valparaiso. The trip is an easy one made in a 
comfortable parlour car. It was ten o'clock at 
night that I had my first view of Santiago, 
and the great iron station brilliantly alight 
with electricity impressed me mightily. It 
[84] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

seemed to me about the most metropolitan 
thing I had seen since leaving New York. A 
cab ride of two or three miles to the Anexo 
del Hotel Addo prepared me for the long 
streets of Santiago, of which I was to see 
more by daylight. This is one of the first 
things a visitor notices. The houses are low, 
only one or two stories, and spreading out 
in all directions, make a city of great 
distances. 

The natural setting of Santiago is so beau- 
tiful that the longer I was there the more de- 
lighted I became. The city is on a plateau or 
high valley surrounded by a wall of magnifi- 
cent mountains. This makes a glorious view 
always, but especially lovely in late after- 
noon when the snow-capped peaks are aglow 
in the brilliant tints of the sunset. In the val- 
ley are the rich estates or "haciendas" that 
produce in abundance most of the cereal 
crops of the temperate zone, and here also 
[85] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

are the fine stock farms for which the coun- 
try is famous. On the lower slopes of the 
mountains are extensive vineyards and graz- 
ing lands for vast herds of cattle. 

At one end of Santiago itself, commanding 
a fine view of the city and the surrounding 
valley, there is a hill, " Cerro de San Lucia," 
which the art and patience of man — to be 
precise, of one man named McKenna — has 
made strikingly lovely. San Lucia rises to the 
height of 400 feet and at one time was noth- 
ing more than an unsightly pile of barren 
rocks. Now its precipitous sides look like the 
battlements and towers of a mediaeval castle, 
and the whole is covered with beautiful 
shrubbery and trees, and laid out in gardens 
and winding walks. Crowds of people saun- 
ter here of afternoons and stay on through 
the evening, for there is a good restaurant 
where one may dine, and here and there a 
number of picturesque band-stands that en- 
[86] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

courage one to linger and listen. At the top of 
the hill is a tiny chapel which the man who 
beautified the whole and gave it to the city 
built as a tomb. His bones seem to rest 
quietly enough undisturbed by the noise and 
gaiety of the careless promenaders who now 
frequent the walks of his beloved hill. 

I dined on the San Lucia one evening 
with Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson, and enjoyed 
the occasion to the utmost watching the rest- 
less, vivacious people. After dinner we 
walked to a place where a game of Basque 
pelota was in progress. This is a Spanish ball 
game very popular among Chileans. It is 
played in a rectangular court with a con- 
crete floor two hundred feet long by sixty- 
five feet wide. At either end is a wall thirty- 
six feet square; one the front wall, the other 
the rebounding wall. On the front wall red 
strips mark the boundaries within which the 
ball must strike, and on the floor there are 
[87] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

likewise boundary markings of spaces where 
the ball on its rebound must touch to be 
counted. The game, as I saw it, was played 
in singles by six players who occupied the 
court two at a time. Each man wore a long, 
dipper-shaped wicker cesta attached to his 
wrist with which he caught and batted the 
ball. The delantaro or foreward man sends 
the ball against the front wall, and the 
zaguero or back man must return it either 
before it touches the floor or on the first re- 
bound. The first man to drive the ball out- 
side the proper limits loses; a new player 
takes his place and the victor scores one. 
This continues until one of the players 
scores six, which is the game. 

Pelota is a favourite sport in all Spanish 
speaking countries and in the large cities 
there are always courts of permanent con- 
struction with good seating capacity. A sin- 
gle game takes about twenty minutes and 
[88] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

before each game is called, pools are sold in 
the same way as on running horses, odds 
given on a favourite player. As a contest of 
skill, a game of Basque pelota is an interest- 
ing exhibition, but it is the chance it affords 
of gambling that gives it its wide popularity. 
For some reason attempts to introduce it into 
America have always failed, and most Amer- 
icans have heard of it only in connection 
with the "Jai Alai Concession" scandals 
that cropped up during our military occupa- 
tion of Havana. 

From the foot of San Lucia the Alameda, 
a fine boulevard, stretches across the city for 
a distance of four or five miles. The Ala- 
meda is 600 feet wide, and is divided by rows 
of shady poplars and acacias into different 
avenues for pedestrians, vehicles, and street 
cars. Here every afternoon the wealth and 
fashion of Santiago drive and promenade. 
Along the Alameda are square after square 
[89] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

of handsome residences, which are the pride 
of the city. Many of these owing to their low 
construction are spread out over enormous 
ground space. They are built mostly of 
brick, covered with yellow and white stucco, 
and adorned with Corinthian pillars which 
give them an appearance very stately and 
substantial. Inside they are filled with costly 
ornaments, and in some the walls have been 
embellished by famous Parisian decorators. 
One of the best known show places is that 
erected by the late Seiiora Cousina, who for 
years was known as the Countess of Monte 
Cristo, on account of her great wealth and 
lavish expenditure. 

Cousina Park on the other side of Santi- 
ago was a gift from her to the city. To the 
poorer people Cousina Park is what the Ala- 
meda and the Plaza are to the rich. It has 
a beautiful lake, extensive grounds and 
walks, band-stands and numerous refresh- 
[90] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ment booths. Cousina Park is as much one of 
the sights of Santiago as San Lucia, for 
there better than anywhere else one can see 
certain phases of the hfe of the peon class. 
There they spend their holidays and their 
playtime as boisterously as they like, eating 
and drinking and dancing the "zama-cu- 
aca," the graceful native dance of Chile. 

Another public pleasure ground is the 
"Quintal Normal" at the end of the Ala- 
meda. Here also the government has its 
agricultural college, a museum, and a small 
zoo. 

Santiago is a large city as South American 
cities go, with a population of something like 
300,000. Its first importance is as the politi- 
cal capital and social centre of the country, 
but it is as well the outlet of a limited yet 
exceedingly rich agricultural district. We 
scarcely think of the Chileans as an agricul- 
tural people; however, nearly half of an en- 
[91] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

tire population of about 3,000,000 is en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits. There are 
single haciendas or plantations famous all 
over the world. Macul, the estate of the late 
Seiiora Cousina, is a notable one. 

It is easy to see that the government of 
Santiago considers it of utmost importance 
to keep the people amused, and it does all it 
can to this end. In the summer there are the 
public parks and play-grounds made attrac- 
tive with music and vaudeville. In the winter 
the opera is encouraged, and the government 
makes such a general subsidy to the man- 
agement that it is enabled every year to im- 
port a famous troupe of Italian singers. Be- 
sides being irreproachable musically, the 
opera is made the leading social event of the 
season and while it lasts the Chilean ladies 
appear night after night in beautiful Pari- 
sian gowns and blazing with jewels. 

The extravagance displayed on all sides by 
[92] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

the wealthy class rather startles us of the more 
economical north. For a landed owner to 
mortgage his next crop heavily does not even 
excite comment. If he is short of funds it 
never occurs to him to curtail his extrava- 
gances; how to raise more money is all he 
thinks of. 

Roman Chatholicism is the church main- 
tained and supported by the state; but the 
constitution provides for the freedom and 
protection of all other religions. Civil mar- 
riage is the only form acknowledged by law. 
This regulation was passed because of the 
prohibitive wedding fees that used to be de- 
manded by the church. On this account as 
much as any other, the rate of illegitimacy 
among the poorer classes was so appalling 
that the government felt constrained to take 
some extreme measure. In the civil courts 
the fee is, of course, a mere trifle fixed by 
law. Among the better classes the marriage 
[93] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

ceremony now is usually performed twice; 
first by a civil official, and then by the priest. 
Our own government has had much this same 
situation to meet in the Philippines, and for 
the same reason is encouraging civil mar- 
riage in the face of strong opposition from 
the church. 



[94] 



CHAPTER SIX 

ACROSS THE ANDES TO BUENOS AIRES 

1 HE traveller, bent more on seeing strange 
sights than saving time, would probably 
prefer to go from Valparaiso to Buenos 
Aires by the Strait of Magellan and Tierra 
del Fuego, rather than across the country by 
the swifter and more commonplace means of 
the railway. By steamer the distance is about 
sixteen days, and by rail two and a half days. 
Being an ordinary business man on a busi- 
ness trip, for me there was no alternative as 
to route. It was simply foreordained that I 
should go by rail and cross the Cordilleras of 
the Andes. The next time I am in South 
America I hope a kind Providence will so 
[95] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

arrange matters that I may round the con- 
tinent. 

The morning of my departure from Val- 
paraiso for the journey over the Andes was 
Sunday, February 28th. The weather was 
fine, and I found the railway station fairly 
alive with gay parties of picnickers, who 
were going to the various seaside resorts for 
the day, or to the country. Baskets of lovely 
flowers, and crates of beautiful fruit that had 
just come in by train and were awaiting dis- 
tribution, gave me some idea of how de- 
lightful the country must be at this season; 
and a group of jovial, handsome youths, all 
of whom carried towels, which clearly marked 
their destination, almost made me wish to join 
them on their expedition to the beach. Sunday 
is, without doubt, the greatest day of all the 
week in Chile, and so widely appreciated that 
(I was told), it takes a great part of the popu- 
lation all Monday to recover from its effects. 
[96] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

At 7.45 the conductor clapped his hands 
violently, which is the South American way 
of saying " All aboard ! " there was a last mo- 
ment's scurryf or places, and the train started. 

The picnickers got off at the numerous 
little stations along the way, or staid on the 
whole distance to Santiago. Those of us who 
were going to make the transcontinental jour- 
ney, changed cars at Llai Llai, (pronounced 
Yi-Yi), on which by noon we reached Los 
Andes, the Chilean terminus of the Trans- 
andine Railway. Here, after lunch, there was 
another change of cars to a narrow gauge — 
the mountain railroad — and by mid-after- 
noon we arrived at Salto del Solado (The 
Soldier's Leap). This is as far as the trains 
ran at that time, though the tracks were laid 
for a considerable distance further. On ac- 
count of the same tracks stretching out 
ahead, I came near missing the stage-coach; 
for when the rest of the passengers left the 
[97] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

train I supposed they were going merely 
because they had reached their destination. 
So I remained calmly seated in the midst of 
my baggage until a train-man happened to 
spy me, and with voluble ejaculations, of 
which I understood nothing, and excited 
gesticulations, which I understood a little 
better, explained that the train would go no 
further, and that if I wished to proceed I 
should have to hurry out to the coach which 
was ready to start. So I hurried and caught it 
in good time. 

There was a tiresome five-hour ride on the 
stage which ended, at last, in front of the 
little road-house at that point of the trail 
which goes by the name of El Juncal. Of El 
Juncal and its road-house I have not very 
pleasant recollections. It is the only place on 
the whole journey where I suffered positive 
and, as it seemed to me, unnecessary dis- 
comforts. I was tired and hungry, but not 
[98] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

quite hungry enough to reHsh the miser- 
able fare that was offered us. It was very 
cold, or I might have been tempted to 
spend hours out-doors, gazing at the full 
moon, which I thought I had never seen 
so large and clear. But as there was no 
one with whom I could talk and share my 
enthusiasm, I soon had enough of star- 
gazing, and was ready for bed. There were 
four beds crowded into the small sleeping- 
room to which I was assigned, but happily, 
through the persuasive power of a fee, I was 
allowed to occupy all four alone. However, 
one was enough, and more than I could 
have stood on ordinary occasions. As it was 
the long stage-ride served me in good stead 
and I slept soundly. 

We were awakened the next morning 
while it was still dark, and hurried into the 
coach a little before three to begin our ascent 
of La Cumbre, or "The Summit." It was 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

mid-summer in South America, but at that 
latitude ice and snow covered the ground. 
We reached La Cumbre in time to catch the 
full glory of the rising sun. The early mor- 
ning light, and the deep hush that lay over the 
mountain like a silence in suspense, made 
the gaunt heights that were grouped about 
us in all directions as far as the eye could 
reach, seem all the more rugged and im- 
pressive. I have never seen the Himalayas, 
but nothing in the Alps or the Rockies has 
ever affected me so much as the view from 
La Cumbre. When the work of tunnelling La 
Cumbre is completed, the traveller may come 
and go across the continent without the in- 
convenience of having to sleep at a tenth- 
rate road-house, or to scale the summit in a 
jolty coach, or on muleback. He will con- 
gratulate himself on the good time the train 
is making, and, counting the hours that the 
tunnel is saving him, never dream that he is 
[100] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

missing, in consequence, one of the most 
superb views on earth. Standing there at si- 
lent gaze, and storing in my memory impres- 
sions of the grandeur and lonehness of it all, 
I forgot the petty inconveniences that had 
gone before, and only felt that it was good 
for me to be there. Paraphrasing what Lord 
Roberts says of the Taj-Mahal and India, I 
remember the view from La Cumbre as 
something that, in itself, is worth a trip to 
South America. 

The boundary line between Chile and the 
Argentine passes through La Cumbre, and 
since the treaty signed at Santiago in 1902, 
providing thereafter for the settlement of all 
disputes by arbitration, both nations have 
agreed to commemorate their friendship by 
the joint erection of a Peace Monument 
somewhere hereabouts. If the work has pro- 
gressed as originally planned, the monument 
must, by this time, be finished. 
[101] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

By a more gradual descent on the 
Argentine slope of La Cumbre, at seven 
o'clock we reached Las Cuevas, the fron- 
tier mountain town of the Argentine. Here 
we breakfasted and went through the for- 
malities of having our baggage examined, 
by the customs officials. Then we boarded 
the narrow-gauge cars of the Transandine, 
once again bound for its eastern terminus, 
the flourishing little town of Mendoza. This 
is a ride of about eight hours, and remark- 
able for the fine view one gets, a greater part 
of the distance, of Aconcagua, the loftiest 
mountain in both Americas. Its heights, 
shrouded in everlasting snow, tower above 
all surrounding peaks, seemingly twice as 
high as any of them. Until within the last few 
years its summit had never been reached by 
any mountain climber; but Sir Martin Con- 
way now claims the honour, and some mem- 
bers of the Fitzgerald expedition have also 
[102] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

been successful. The latest figures place its 
height above sea level as 22,863, feet or 
some 6,000 feet less than Mt. Everest, the 
giant of the Himalayas. 

Shortly after leaving Las Cuevas we cross- 
ed El Puente del Inca, a remarkable natural 
bridge, which is very beautiful in a picture. 
There is a hotel or sanitarium near and 
some hot springs which are famous in the 
Argentine for curing rheumatism and skin 
diseases. 

We arrived at Medoza in the late after- 
noon, but did not wait long enough to see 
anything of the town. It is a busy, progres- 
sive little place, noted for its salubrious cli- 
mate and its vineyards. From here it is only 
twenty-four hours journey to Buenos Aires. 
At Mendoza we left our Transandine nar- 
row-gauge, changing to the broad-gauge of 
the Buenos Aires and Pacific and Argentine 
Great Western Railway. The new train was 
[103] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

made up of dining-car, regular coaches, and 
two sleepers, which were scarcely as com- 
modious as our Pullmans. There were extra 
charges, too, for such things as sheets, and 
towels, and soap — something that may 
seem a matter of course to South Americans, 
but certainly surprising to a North Ameri- 
can. Yet, as the proof of the pudding is the 
eating, I suppose the proof of the bed and 
the bedding, too, is the sleeping, and after 
registering these complaints, I must add that 
I never slept more soundly. 

But when I awoke next morning, I was 
tempted to assign another cause to the sooth- 
ing influence of the night, for we were glid- 
ing ahead, mile after mile, without a single 
turn or curve, through the most wonderful 
railroad country in the world. There was no 
need for skilled engineers in road construc- 
tion to build this road, for with a bit of grad- 
ing here and a little filling in there the road- 
[104] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

bed stood ready for the rails. The track is ac- 
tually laid in as straight a line as our railway 
companies are in the habit of picturing their 
various lines in advertisements. The country 
is flat as a table, which is a flatness not at all 
like the billowy flatness of our prairies. As I 
looked out I remembered having heard 
this about the Argentine pampas. How dif- 
ferent, I thought, to the dreary pampas of 
the nitrate country through which I had 
passed some days before. This was the fin- 
est agricultural country in extent and rich- 
ness that I had seen in South America. 
Hour after hour we sped by huge stock farms 
of cattle and sheep which explained suffi- 
ciently the reason we go to the Argentine 
when we want to import hides. Both this rich 
part of the country and the poorer pampas 
further south are so well suited for pastur- 
age that Argentine is acquiring an enormous 
trade with the markets of Europe, which she 
[105] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

is able to furnish with frozen meats and 
meat extracts. Wool and hides have always 
been her leading exports, but now since the 
rising importance of these other animal 
products, more attention than ever is being 
paid to scientific stock-raising. Many of 
of these estancias, or ranches, number their 
heads of cattle up in the hundred thousands ; 
or, rather, in the millions, for instead of 
counting the heads of cattle it is customary, 
in South America, to count the feet 

We passed beautiful wheat lands, too, as 
fine as our own vast wheat farms of the West. 
This, too, is an industry of comparatively re- 
cent growth. Not many years ago Argentine 
was importing wheat from the United States. 
Now she exports to the markets of Europe, 
besides feeding most of South America. 
Since the first experiments that proved how 
well adapted some of the provinces of the 
Argentine were to wheat raising, irrigation 
[ 106 ] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

has opened up other parts of the country 
theretofore looked upon as barren deserts. 

What the Argentine needs most is people 
to develop her agricultural resources. The 
government realizes this, and offers special 
inducements to immigrants, such as advanc- 
ing farming implements and stock, and other 
necessaries until such a time as they are able 
to pay for them. 

At present, of the foreign born population, 
the Italians are in preponderance. They are 
the labourers on the railroads, on the farms, 
in the cities and everywhere. They are not 
attractive to look at, and do not seem to 
throw off their slovenly, lazy habits of life so 
quickly as their countrymen who come to 
the United States. 

The Argentine owes a great debt to the 

English, for English capital and English 

brains have done much in the development 

of the country. The business relations of the 

[107] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

two countries are very close, and in Argen- 
tine's foreign trade Great Britain comes first 
both in imports and exports. In her import 
trade we come third; in her export trade, 
fifth. She sends us hides ; we send her timber, 
coal, mineral oils, iron, steel, and machin- 
ery. 

The richness of the country and its limita- 
tions were plain enough to any one looking 
out of the train-window, as I did on my ride 
to Buenos Aires. There were the wheat fields 
and the pasture lands, both with the possi- 
bilities of untold wealth. But neither here nor 
further south was there any timber to speak 
of, nor any mines of iron or coal. The Argen- 
tine will have to be a great agricultural and 
stock-raising country or nothing. 



[108] 



CHAPTER SEVEN 

BUENOS AIRES 

IViOST people think of Buenos Aires as 
merely another name for the Argentina, just 
as Paris so often spells France. Indeed had it 
not been for the deep impression made upon 
my imagination by the vast, fertile stretches 
of the Argentine pampas, I think that I, too, 
should suppose the country but a tail-like 
appendage to the kite of its largest city. The 
size of Buenos Aires dwarfed the other South 
American cities I had seen, up to this time, 
villages and small towns. The bustle of 
the place, too, and the growth that was ac- 
tually going on while you waited and watch- 
ed was more like the mushroom expansion 
[109] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

of a Chicago than of a Latin - American 
capital. 

The feeling of admiration and enchant- 
ment that took possession of me the first 
night in Buenos Aires has never quite left 
me. Early in the evening I presented my card 
at the American Legation and was cordially 
received by the Honourable John Barrett, 
who at that time was still our minister to the 
Argentine. As a good introduction to the city 
Mr. Barrett suggested a drive to Palermo 
Park. This took us through brilliantly light- 
ed streets, past square after square of hand- 
some business blocks, and down the Ave- 
nida de Mayo, a beautiful boulevard which, 
modelled after the Grand Boulevard of 
Paris, was laid out through the very heart of 
the city ten years ago at enormous expense. 
At Palermo quiet and moonlight reigned 
among the palms, and as I lay back enjoying 
the restfulness of it, I thought I should prob- 

[ no ] 




I 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 
ably never again find this beautiful park so 
attractive. But I thought the same a few 
nights later when the walks were crowded 
with people and we passed and repassed 
hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of car- 
riages whose occupants — the men in eve- 
ning dress, and the women in costly gowns 
and a blaze of precious stones — were mak- 
ing of their evening drive a social event of 
some magnitude. Palermo is the great play- 
ground of Buenos Aires. It is always the 
scene of such celebrations as the Battle of 
Flowers which Latin-America enjoys as 
much as Latin-Europe. When the Battle is 
in progress the array of vehicles and beauti- 
ful horses is as astonishing as the army of 
lovely women who drive them and keep up a 
laughing fusilade of bouquets. Of course 
everybody attends from the President down. 
But even so one is surprised. Is there actual- 
ly no end to the number of carriages in Bue- 
[111] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

nos Aires, and lovely women and — flow- 
ers ? In the Battle of Flowers it would seem 
not. 

The morning after my arrival when I be- 
gan my business calls and found that merely 
travelling out to Barracas, the shipping dis- 
trict at the south end of the city, took nearly 
a half day, I was ready to agree to the boast 
of the natives that in point of area Buenos 
Aires is larger than Paris. The population 
according to the last official census, that of 
1902, is less than 900,000. The rate of in- 
crease since then has been tremendous, and 
though we may not care to go so far as enthu- 
siastic Buenos Aireans and put it at a million 
and a half, yet there is little doubt that it is 
well past the million mark. This makes Bue- 
nos Aires after Paris the most important cen- 
tre of Latin civilization in the world. I am 
tempted to call it a cosmopolitan, or at any 
rate, an all-embracing Latin civiKzation, for 
[112] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Spanish is the language that prevails, French 
the taste, and Italian the labour. 

Buenos Aires was founded in the year 
1535, a fact which accounts for the narrow 
streets that cut the city up into Spanish rect- 
angles. In many of them two carriages can- 
not pass each other, and as a result there is a 
general regulation against carriages stopping 
and blocking up the way. Little plazas and 
boulevards have improved these old streets, 
but they are still out of keeping with the 
handsome, modern buildings that have been 
erected in recent years. Architecturally these 
buildings reflect very strongly the general 
tendency to cast aside Spanish models in fa- 
vour of French. No more low houses are go- 
ing up built around a patio or inner court. 

The cathedral on the Plaza at one end of 

the Avenida de Mayo, is an imposing edifice 

that looks like a government building or an 

art gallery or anything but a Roman Church. 

[113] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

Instead of the regulation Gothic it is severe 
Greek in character, with a wide portico in 
front and twelve great Corinthian pillars to 
support the roof. The nearest thing to a spire 
is a squatty Byzantine tower that rises over 
the altar, but so far back that the Greek ef- 
fect of the front is not spoiled. 

On the Calle Florida is the Jockey Club, 
one of the most luxuriously appointed club 
buildings in the world, famous for its marble 
halls and onyx staircases. Buenos Aires is 
well supplied with clubs. Club del Progreso 
is almost as expensive and quite as well 
known as the Jockey Club, and there are 
dozens of others where the properly intro- 
duced visitor may meet all the wealth and 
business brains of the country. Through Mr. 
Barrett's courtesy I was able to make my 
headquarters at the Strangers' Club, where I 
became very pleasantly acquainted with a 
number of Americans and Englishmen who 
[ 114 ] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

had been for years residents of the Argen- 
tina. 

One gentleman, a Mr. Cassells, who had 
spent a Hfetime there but officially was still 
an American, told me a little story that 
seems to me to illustrate a certain phase of 
the national character of the Englishman 
and the American at variance with that of 
the peoples of continental Europe. He said 
that, considering he had no personal ties to 
hold him to America and that he had spent 
the working years of his life in the Argentine 
and had accumulated a fortune there, he had 
at one time serious thoughts of becoming a 
naturalized citizen. He spoke to several of his 
friends, Americans and Englishmen, who 
were in much the same position as he, and 
after discussing the subject thoroughly they 
all agreed that if they could persuade one 
hundred of their fellow countrymen to join 
them — the British population in Buenos 
[115] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

Aires alone is more than seven thousand — 
they would take the step. They made an hon- 
est canvass, but were never able to work up 
the specified quota. Though it was only 
pride and sentiment against the just dues of 
the new country, the English and Americans 
could not bring themselves to change their 
nationalities. So Mr. Cassells is still an 
American. 

Nothing shows the activity and the pro- 
gressiveness of Buenos Aires more than the 
number of newspapers it publishes and the 
class of world news these papers offer. The 
entire number of publications including 
weeklies and monthlies is one hundred and 
fifty. Of these twenty-three are daily news- 
papers which are printed in Spanish, Italian, 
French, English, German, and Russian. 
The paper and the newspaper building most 
likely to attract the attention of the visitor is 
La Prensa. In company with Mr. Barrett 
[116] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

and the editor of the paper I made the tour 
of La Prensa, and it seemed to me that the 
equipment and management of the building 
were equal to anything I had ever seen in 
New York, London, or Paris. The Buenos 
Aireans say it is superior; perhaps it is. The 
presses and machinery are all of the latest 
and most approved models ; but it is not this 
part of La Prensa's equipment that surprised 
me most. It was rather certain departments 
of activity not ordinarily connected with a 
newspaper establishment, such as a free dis- 
pensary. This dispensary, they told me, was 
started at a time when Buenos Aires was not 
so well supplied with hospitals and ambu- 
lances as it is now. The original idea was to 
have a small, well organized medical force 
that could be reached by any one in case of 
emergency, and would be always at the dis- 
posal of the poor. This intention has been 
admirably carried out, and La Prensa has 
[117] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

spared no expense in making its dispensary a 
thoroughly useful public institution. In the 
same building there is a handsome audito- 
rium where lectures, charity benefits, and 
such things take place. There are besides 
billiard-rooms and lounging-rooms for the 
staff, which is further taken care of in the 
matter of a midnight lunch. Most surprising 
of all, however, are some suites of rooms in- 
tended for entertainment. These are actually 
placed at the disposal of distinguished for- 
eigners and official guests of the government. 
So La Prensa takes an active part in the life 
of its city in ways that would be undreamed 
of among us. 

On our drives to Palermo Park my atten- 
tion was drawn to what looked to me a pal- 
ace of most ornate architecture with win- 
dows of coloured glass and numerous turrets 
and balconies. It occupied a solid square and 
the grounds about it were laid out in well- 
[118] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

kept gardens and walks. Mr. Barrett ex- 
plained to me that I was not looking at a pal- 
ace, but only at the blank walls of one ox the 
city reservoirs. Could anything mark more 
sharply the temperamental differences be- 
tween us and our South American neigh- 
bours than the toleration with which we 
regard the unsighthness of reservoirs in our 
cities, and the taste with which they conceal 
the necessary hideousness of theirs ? Best 
foot forward and appearances above all 
things, is the motto of South America. It 
isn't a half bad motto when united to the 
push and progressiveness that I found 
everywhere in Buenos Aires. 

On Sunday, March 6th, I saw the outside 
workings of an election for senator. The vot- 
ing booths arranged for the Australian ballot 
system were placed at the entrances of the 
various churches. By night when returns be- 
gan to be published, the streets were alive 
[119] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

with excited, noisy crowds. The successful 
candidate's name made no impression on 
me, but I remember that he was president of 
the Jockey Club. A very disheartening feat- 
ure of poUtics universal in South America 
but especially emphasized on an occasion 
like this, is the custom of speaking disre- 
spectfully of all representatives of govern- 
ment. No matter what a man's standing may 
have been before election to office, once he is 
in, it is taken for granted that he is there to 
make what he can out of it. Even the highest 
offices lend no dignity to the men who oc- 
cupy them. Public sentiment seems rather to 
be, the higher the office the bigger the chance ' 
for graft. Whatever its cause this seems to me a 
very unfortunate habit for people living under 
a democratic form of government to fall into. 
For amusements Buenos Aires is well pro- 
vided with theatres. At present there is in 
erection a Grand Opera House, which, when 
[120] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

finished, will be one of the largest and finest 
in the world. As it was summer I couldn't see 
this side of the social life of the city in its 
full glory. One night I went to the Vaude- 
ville, which financially was said to be the 
most successful theatre in the city. It is deco- 
rated in pronounced French style, and has 
large lobbies where cigars and drinks are sold, 
and where the beauties of the demi-monde 
promenade between acts. In intention it was 
all very Parisian, but somehow it did not pro- 
duce the same impression of light gaiety and 
charm which one instantly recognizes at the 
Moulin Rouge or at the Ambassadors. 

Before I left Buenos Aires confirmation 
arrived of Mr. Barrett's appointment to 
Panama. The news caused a good deal of 
stir in official circles, and I was pleased to see 
the genuine regret that the other legations, 
and the Argentinians as well, felt at the pros- 
pect of losing the American minister. I took 
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A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

it as a good indication that Mr. Barrett on 
the new and more delicate mission he was 
about to undertake would be just as well able 
to win the liking and respect of another 
South American people. 

After a stay of ten days into which I had 
tried to crowd the business and sight-seeing 
of three months, I had to leave Buenos Aires 
and proceed northward on my trip. Whisked 
about as I had been in cabs from one end of 
the city to the other, I have a lasting mem- 
ory of the distances in Buenos Aires, and 
also of the lines of shops and stores that ex- 
tend for miles in seemingly endless vistas. It 
can almost be said that all the stores of the 
Argentine are crowded into Buenos Aires. I 
can close my eyes now and see their signs fly 
by — Sombreria, Zapateria, libreria, Can- 
deleria, Papeleria, and a dozen other — eri- 
ases, until I am fain to call Buenos Aires the 
City of Erias. 

[122] 



CHAPTER EIGHT 
A GLIMPSE OF MONTEVIDEO IN REVOLUTION 

1 HE frequency of revolutions in South 
America is not, unfortunately, quite the joke 
that our comic papers would have us be- 
lieve. For the country where a revolution is 
taking place, it is something more than an 
explosion of Spanish expletives, a show of 
gilt braid and epaulets, and an array of 
generals with long titles and high-sounding 
names. I had the opportunity to see this in 
my glimpse of Montevideo, which at that 
time was going through what is now called, I 
believe, "the last revolution." 

The trip from Buenos Aires on the Royal 
Mail Steamship "Clyde" across the broad 
[123] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

estuary known as the Rio de la Plata took 
one night. We woke up the next morning 
within the harbour of Montevideo, a few 
miles from shore but in full sight of the Cerro 
with its light-house. The " Clyde " was not to 
sail until late afternoon, but we were told 
that as a revolution was on, passengers 
would probably not be allowed to land. 
However, I took my chances and going 
to shore on one of the ship's boats, declared 
my business at the Captain of Port's office, 
answered questions, left my name and de- 
scription, and was granted the liberty of the 
town with the understanding that I report 
promptly at three o'clock. I was warned not 
to wear anything that might look like a red 
badge for fear of being made a target by the 
Whites, nor anything conspicuously white 
for fear of attracting the attention of the 
Reds. 

This prepared me for exciting surprises 
[124] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

that I supposed would be cropping up at 
every street corner. But nothing of the sort 
happened. I called on the American Minis- 
ter and the American Consul, and then made 
a round of business calls on the firms on my 
list. The streets were quiet, unnaturally 
quiet, and at every corner or two there was a 
group of soldiers doing police duty. The city 
was, of course, under martial law and the 
same air of arrested activity pervaded every- 
thing. Business was dead, as dead as a door- 
nail, and there was no way of foretelling 
when it would again have chance to revive. I 
heard of little bloodshed, but there was talk 
of much slaughter of live stock on the part of 
the contending factions. This seemed to me a 
horrible method of warfare, but the revolu- 
tionists looked upon it merely as a means of 
crippling their opponents' resources. Even 
so, I could not disabuse my mind of the pict- 
ure of herds of beautiful cattle and sheep 
[ 125 ] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

butchered ruthlessly and left to welter and 
rot in the fields. 

Montevideo has a population of 300,000 
and is a well-built, well-paved city. It has a 
fine outlook, and a good natural harbour 
that needs only a little dredging to make it 
excellent. Uruguay, as a country, is blessed 
with fertile wheat fields and rich grazing 
lands, out of all proportion to its diminutive 
size and its importance as an independent 
state. It is counted a prosperous country and 
small wonder, for a little industry and bus- 
iness judgment is all that is required to make 
it one of the wealthiest spots of South Amer- 
ica. I am sure that in revolutionless times 
Montevideo, the capital, principal city, larg- 
est seaport — in fact, the giant head to the 
dwarfed body of the country — must be a 
gay, bustling place. But when I saw it, in the 
thralls of a revolution, it was quiet and 
gloomy with all its business life crushed out. 
[126] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

Among the people who took passage on 
the "Clyde" from Montevideo was one wo- 
man, an American, with whom naturally I 
became acquainted and whose trying expe- 
rience I am tempted to record as illustrating 
another unhappy phase of life in a country 
subject to revolutions. She had been travel- 
ling with her husband, a business man from 
Chicago, when he was taken ill at Monte- 
video and died. In preparing his body for 
shipment home and seeking the necessary 
licenses and permits, she was met with seem- 
ingly insurmountable obstacles at every turn. 
Such outrageous fees were demanded and so 
many of them, that the poor woman was in 
despair, and at length had to apply to the 
United States Consul for protection and as- 
sistance. Through his exertions, she was able 
finally to meet the requirements of law, and 
at the same time escape the shameless fleec- 
ing that had been at first attempted. When I 
[127] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

saw her she was bound for home by tne 
most direct and quickest route, namely, by 
Southampton. In returning from South Am- 
erica it will be remembered the old adage still 
holds: "The longest way round is the short- 
est way home." This incident seems to me as 
good a commentary as any of the shocking 
inadequacy of steamer communication be- 
tween the two Americas. 



[128] 



CHAPTER NINE 

FROM SAO PAULO TO RIO JANEIRO AND HOME 

Leaving Montevideo the temperature 
grew rapidly warmer and no map was need- 
ed to tell us that we were again approaching 
Capricorn. After a twelve days' run we left 
the ocean, and went up a deep winding river 
between banks covered with a green tropical 
growth and past coffee plantations that ex- 
tended as far as the eye could see. We reach- 
ed Santos, the great coffee port, after a river 
trip of two and a half hours, and anchored at 
the docks in one of the finest river harbours I 
have seen anywhere. The docks and the har- 
bour improvements are comparatively re- 
cent, and have done more than any other one 
[129] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

thing to advance the growing importance of 
Santos. Santos is the port for Sao Paulo and 
for the Sao Paulo state, which is the richest 
coffee-growing district in Brazil. 

Although Santos is losing the bad name it 
once had as a hotbed for yellow-fever germs, 
even yet no one who can afford to live at Sao 
Paulo or elsewhere cares to make it a perma- 
nent residence. The morning we got in the 
heat was terriiSc, though probably it seemed 
no worse than usual to the hundreds of la- 
bourers who were running back and forth 
between warehouse and steamer with sacks 
of coffee on their shoulders. We had the 
usual unnecessary delays in getting through 
the customs, on account of which we missed 
the train to Sao Paulo and had to sit waiting 
half an afternoon, with nothing to look at but 
the sluggish green water of the harbour and 
the hot roofs of the warehouses. 

The two hours' trip to Sao Paulo was 
[130] 




Ci3 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

probably tiresome to the crowd of business 
men who were with me on the train return- 
ing home. But as it wasn't a daily occurrence 
for me, as it was for them, I found the jour- 
ney most interesting. Through the glossy, 
green plantations of coffee we travelled on a 
steady up grade to a height of 2700 feet. The 
railway was cogwheeled and arranged in a 
series of six inclined planes which, in con- 
struction, bespeak considerable mechanical 
ingenuity as well as expense. At the top of 
the last inclined plane there is a restaurant 
where the train stops long enough for the 
passengers to get a cup of coffee before con- 
tinuing the last half hour's run to Sao Paulo. 
In size Sao Paulo is the third city of Bra- 
zil. It is a busy, enterprising place with a 
population estimated at 175,000. Its streets 
are narrow and its buildings unimposing and 
ordinary. It boasts, however, a modern and 
most satisfactory street-railway system, the 
[131] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

work of an American engineer named Mitch- 
ell. The foreigner thinks of Sao Paulo as the 
place where he is likely to meet the coffee 
buyers of the world, but throughout Brazil 
at least the city is looked upon as an educa- 
tional centre and noted for its fine schools 
and museums. Portuguese is the prevailing 
language, as in all parts of Brazil, though 
there are a great many German residents 
and one also hears French and English. 

The State of Sao Paulo, of which the city 
of the same name is the capital, is not so 
large as many other of the states of Brazil, 
but richer and more important than most of 
them. It is so well adapted to the growth of 
coffee that, so it is said, it could make its sup- 
ply large enough to meet the demand of the 
world. It has now, in round numbers, 16,000 
plantations each with from 50,000 to 500,000 
trees. Every brand of coffee on the market is 
produced from the Rio and Santos that one 
[ 132 ] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

in South America would expect to find, as 
well as what is sold in the American market, 
as Mocha and Java. Indeed coffee from the 
same tree is graded according to size and col- 
our into these and more classes. Moreover, 
any coffee producing area in the world can 
call on Sao Paulo to swell its own limited 
supply just as Mocha and Java have long 
done. Sao Paulo caters well to the taste of all 
its patrons. Take South Africa, for instance. 
It prefers to boil its coffee from black coffee- 
beans; so the beans sent there are coloured 
the desired shade! 

In 1901-2 the coffee output in Brazil was 
14,387,647 bags valued in sterling at <£23,- 
322,058. The next year the output was 12,- 
199,865 bags valued at ^18,209,451. We are 
Brazil's heaviest customer in coffee, our 
annual imports mounting up to nearly 
$60,000,000.00. A Brazilian commissioner 
whom I met at the St. Louis Fair, and with 
[ 133 ] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

whom I was talking about the coffee trade, 
expressed to me his disgust at the anti- 
coffee literature in general which he found 
scattered so broadcast over America. No 
wonder he was disgusted. Any blow 
at the American coffee-pot is a blow at 
Brazil. 

From Sao Paulo I went to Rio de Janeiro 
by rail, a one night's trip of about fifteen 
hours. The railway station at Rio is a long 
distance from the centre of town, so my first 
hour's sight-seeing was from a cab on the 
way to the Hotel Dos Estrangeros. This took 
me through the Cattete, one of the pleasant 
resident districts along the Bay, where na- 
ture in providing conditions favourable for 
the growth of the royal palm has made the 
laying out of picturesque drives a simple 
matter. These same royal palms are one of 
the glories of Rio and to be mentioned with 
the Sugar Loaf, that monster of rock that 
[134] 




o 
o 






IN SOUTH AMERICA 

rises abruptly out of the Bay, and with the 
Corcovado, the "stoop-shouldered" moun- 
tain which crouches high above the city. 
Everywhere in Rio the royal palm is in evi- 
dence, but where one sees it in its proudest 
beauty is at the Botanical Gardens. Here 
there is an avenue, the most regal I think on 
earth, bordered on either side by a row of 
these palms, planted fifteen or twenty feet 
apart, and shooting straight up into the air a 
distance of eighty or a hundred feet. No 
branch or leaf breaks the stiffness of their 
smooth, slender trunks that end up at the 
very top in prim leafy tufts which, looked at 
from below, remind one of umbrellas. This 
avenue of palms is to a Northerner the won- 
der sight of Rio — the veritable dream of the 
tropics come true. 

Rio covers an area of about thirty square 
miles, and is credited with a population 
of between 800,000 and 1,000,000. The 
[ 135 ] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

white population is estimated at two-thirds 
of the whole. The natural surroundings of 
the city are most picturesque. Looking in 
from the Bay one is charmed with the gently 
rising terraces upon which the city spreads 
out over the lower slopes of the mountains 
and hills. Gazing down from the height of 
Corcovado on the other hand, one sees the 
harbour in all its beauty, and suddenly re- 
calls that it is the commonplace of every 
traveller to group the Bay of Rio with the 
Golden Horn at Constantinople and with the 
Bay of Naples. One enthusiastic writer ex- 
travagantly calls the harbour, "a miniature 
summer sea upon whose bosom rest a hun- 
dred fairy isles, and upon whose shores dim- 
ple a hundred bays." In addition to its tropi- 
cal beauty the harbour is one of the largest in 
South America and one of the safest. Follow- 
ing the example of Santos and in hopes of re- 
claiming a part of the rich trade lost to that 
[136] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

port, Rio is now constructing great modern 
docks which are costing millions of money. 

Modelled after Lisbon most of the streets 
in Rio are narrow and overhung with the 
balconies and windows of the houses which 
as usual are built flush with the sidewalks. 
Naturally the air is close and malodours are 
prevalent. The most interesting street in the 
city is the Rua Ouvidor, where the finest 
shops are situated. Yet the Rua Ouvidor is 
only eight or ten squares in length and so 
narrow that horses and carriages are not al- 
lowed to drive through it even in one direction. 

Realizing that Buenos Aires's experiment 
in building the Avenida de Mayo has proved 
successful beyond all expectation, Rio is now 
doing the same thing and at great expense, 
clearing a broad boulevard through the cen- 
tral, most congested part of the city. 

In the narrow streets of Rio the old-fash- 
ioned "Tilbury" is still seen, a heavy, two- 
[137] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

wheeled affair drawn by one horse. On the 
Tilbury, as on the street-cars, following the 
custom of Europe, the cost of fare is in pro- 
portion to the length of the ride. On the 
street cars the conductor always gives a re- 
ceipt. No one is allowed to ride in a car with- 
out a coat, not even an American in a fash- 
ionable shirt-waist. And people with bundles 
are not permitted to board a car. There is, 
however, at least one thing you may do; 
anywhere in the car you may smoke. 

The lottery still continues to be a state in- 
stitution in Brazil, and on nearly every street 
corner in Rio I saw venders of lottery tickets. 
Indeed selling lottery tickets might be put 
down as one of the most flourishing branches 
of business in Rio. Everybody buys tickets, 
and the stories of great fortunes suddenly ac- 
quired not only keep up the excitement of 
the natives but as often as not arouse the in- 
terest of the passing stranger as well. 
[138] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

The hills and peaks which surround Rio 
and in their tropical greenness look so cool 
and fresh are not so beneficial as they look, 
for they shut out the purifying draughts of 
air, and in the summer season are the means 
of keeping the city languishing in breathless 
heat and, too often, in the clutches of yellow 
fever and bubonic plague. It should be said, 
though, that new and stricter sanitary meas- 
ures have in the past few years greatly les- 
sened the danger and spread of these 
scourges. 

Europeans and Americans are still afraid 
during some seasons of the year to pass many 
nights in Rio. Fortunately there are a num- 
ber of healthful summer resorts within reach- 
able distance which solve the problem of 
conducting a business in Rio without living 
there. 

Tijuca is such a place. In itself it is a de- 
lightful suburb, but I remember it chiefly for 
[139] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

the wonderful stretches of tropical forest 
which the tram and electric railway pass 
through in reaching it. Fortunately, these 
forests are protected and maintained by the 
government, and so, with the Corcovado and 
the Botanical Gardens, may be put down as 
one more of the beautiful and permanent 
landscape features which nature in her lav- 
ishness has bestowed upon Rio. 

Another favourite and famous summer re- 
sort is Petropolis. It was named after the 
Emperor, Dom Pedro II, who had his sum- 
mer palace there. There is no doubt about its 
location being healthful, for it is perched 
high up in the breezy Organ Mountains, 
forty-five miles away from the heat and 
smells of Rio. After a warm, noisy night at 
the hotel I was more than pleased to accept 
the invitation of Mr. Eugene Seeger, the 
American Consul, to spend Saturday night 
and Sunday at his home in Petropolis, The 
[140] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

ferry-boat ride across the Bay was delight- 
ful; the boat was comfortable, and the Bay 
itself, dotted with lovely green islands and 
with an irregular coast-line fringed with 
palms and other tropical growths, was as 
beautiful on close view as it had looked 
from a distance. 

At the pier the train was waiting for us. 
The same men use this train week in and 
week out until custom has reserved each man 
his own seat. The railway ride like the boat 
ride is about an hour. After a run of fifteen 
miles we reached the beginning of the cog- 
wheel road, and the train was broken up into 
sections to make the ascent. At every turn we 
seemed to catch new views of the valley and 
Bay behind, of the tropical forests at hand, 
and the mountain peaks above. 

Petropolis is at an elevation of 3000 feet. 
It is a charming little place of five or six 
thousand people, and with its foreign air and 
[ 141 ] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

German hotels reminds one of Carlsbad. It 
is prettily laid out, and the homes of the 
American and English residents are hand- 
some and comfortable. There are well-kept 
lawns and beautiful gardens, but these last 
are to be expected in a land of palms and 
ferns and orchids. Moreover, anything green 
would flourish, for running water is every- 
where at hand. Below the city down in a little 
valley to which we drove on Sunday mor- 
ning is the race-course, and in all directions 
there are pleasant walks and drives. I 
thought it an ideal place of residence for the 
families of the foreign officials, and most of 
them seemed to feel much the same, for I 
heard very little complaint over the long two 
hours' journey to and from Rio, which as a 
consequence many of them had to make 
daily. The men who come and go regularly 
are together so much that they form clubs 
and matches for entertainment on the train 
[142] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

and the "barca," as the ferry is universally 
called. Subsequent visits to Petropolis in- 
creased rather than diminished my liking for 
the little place which I learned to know 
pretty thoroughly under the friendly guid- 
ance of Mr. and Mrs. Seeger and another 
American resident and his wife, Mr. and 
Mrs. Moulinier. 

There was no yellow fever at that time re- 
ported in Rio, but vessels coming and going 
were nevertheless most strict in their quaran- 
tine regulations. I had amusing evidence of 
this one morning. I received word from a 
friend who was anchored out in the Bay on a 
steamer from New York bound for Buenos 
Aires. The quarantine regulations of the ship 
forbade through pasengers from landing, and 
allowed no visitors aboard. Notwithstanding 
these strict orders I went out in a small boat 
and succeeded in talking to my man, but un- 
der rather trying circumstances, for I had to 
[143] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

keep my distance from the steamer and he 
could come out no further than the gang- 
way. So conversation was a luxury not to be 
indulged in too recklessly. 

After a stay of two weeks in Rio, I took 
passage on the steamship "Byron" of the 
Lamport and Holt Line to sail on April 2d 
for New York by way of the intermediate 
ports of Bahia, Pernambuco, and Bridge- 
town in the Barbadoes. Mr. Seeger and one 
or two friends went out to the "Byron " with 
me, giving me the last of those cordial little 
farewell receptions which had been so pleas- 
ant a feature of my experience at almost 
every stage of my journey. From the resident 
Americans everywhere I had met with the 
same unfailing courtesy and friendliness, 
and I shall probably never know what bus- 
iness difficulties I should have had without 
their help and what discomforts I should 
have suffered. 

[144] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 
On board the "Byron" besides the bright 
young American engineers, the coffee buyers 
and the tourists, there were some of the Bra- 
zilian representatives to the World's Fair. So 
there was opportunity to hear discussion 
about other parts of those great United 
States of Brazil which in area stretch out as 
broad as our own United States without 
Alaska and the Island Possessions. There 
was talk of the rubber industry in the forests 
of the Amazon, and of the mineral deposits 
of which later so fine an exhibit was made in 
St. Louis. Sugar flourishes in many parts; to- 
bacco and cotton are grown extensively; and 
the hard woods of the vast tropical forests 
will always find a ready market. 

Brazil has all the riches of a tropical coun- 
try and unfortunately all the drawbacks. It is 
opening up as fast as capital can be attract- 
ed, but this is not very fast for the white man 
has to move slowly in these latitudes. The 
[145] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

plague and the fever stand ever beside him as 
he builds railroads, cuts tunnels, and 
dredges rivers, and he knows from experi- 
ence that their menace is not an empty one. 

On arrival at Bahia and later at Pernam- 
buco, we were disappointed at finding the 
quarantine regulations against everything 
coming from Rio so strict that we were not 
allowed to land. There was a fumigative al- 
ternative offered the more insistent of us, but 
it was of so severe a nature, internal and ex- 
ternal, that courage failed us. So I saw both 
ports only from shipboard. 

Bahia which in population is the second 
city of Brazil is a little more than 700 miles 
from Rio. It is divided into an upper and a 
lower town. The upper town is reached by 
an inclined plane and is the handsome resi- 
dence district. The bright tiles of the roofs 
and the bright colours of the houses show 
very prettily from a distance. Tobacco is the 
[ 146 ] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

great industry at Bahia, and there are many 
cigar and cigarette factories. As a centre of 
the sugar industry, Bahia counts third in 
Brazil. 

Pernambuco outranks Bahia as a sugar 
port, but is not so large a town. It is about 
400 miles from Bahia. There's a curious ex- 
tent of coral reef in front of the town that 
forms a protected inner harbour. This inner 
harbour is large and commodious, but not 
very deep. Vessels drawing twenty-three feet 
have to load and unload outside the reef. 
Pernambuco was not described as a very at- 
tractive place by the people who knew it, but 
from our distance it looked pretty enough. 

Our last stop was at Bridgetown in the 
Barbadoes, where we arrived after a six 
days' cruise from Pernambuco. This is a de- 
lightful little English garrison town with 
clean streets, crowds of smiling, indolent 
negroes, and all the lovely vegetation of the 
[147] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

tropics. The army officers and their families 
and the Governor- General and his staff have 
pleasant homes and live as the better class 
English live everywhere, adapting to what- 
ever corner of the earth they may be sent the 
fine old social traditions of the mother coun- 
try. 

We left Bridgetown with all its summer 
warmth and colour, and without further 
delay steamed straight for New York. Soon 
the temperature changed, and we passed 
through an uncomfortable fall that made 
the South American shiver and shake, and 
into a winter that foretold a cold reception 
for us in New York. 

We made harbour on April the 19th, sev- 
enteen days out from Rio. The air was heavy 
with fog, and it was as cold and raw as it had 
been three months before on the day I had 
sailed from New York bound for Colon. 

[148] 



CHAPTER TEN 

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON OUR TRADE WITH 
SOUTH AMERICA 

riOWEVER casual our view of trade con- 
ditions in South America, it is astonishing to 
our complacent American sense of business su- 
premacy to see how the nations of Europe — 
Great Britain, France, and Germany — have 
outdistanced us of the United States right on 
our own western hemisphere. It is clear enough 
that the European markets got their first foot- 
ing in South America at a period when all our 
time and energies were employed in opening 
up the resources of our own expanding coun- 
try. But now the question arises, why in more 
recent years have we not bestirred ourselves ? 
[149] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

It would be foolish to assign as reason for. 
this the manifest and the manifold obstacles 
which at present stand in the way of our tak- 
ing a more commanding place in South 
American trade. Without doubt if our inter- 
est had been truly keen, ways and means for 
overcoming these obstacles would long ago 
have been devised as they have been in other 
directions where it has seemed desirable for 
us to push out. No more time would now be 
lost if the American business world once 
realized to its full extent the growing com- 
mercial importance of South America. Not 
only would the trade that already exists be 
more carefully fostered but means for creat- 
ing a demand for American goods, where be- 
fore this there has been no demand, would 
be searched for and found — similar per- 
haps to the very successful methods followed 
by our government in demonstrating at the 
Paris Exposition the various uses of our 
[150] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

great staple, corn. Brazil herself did mis- 
sionary work of this kind in St. Louis when 
she taught hundreds and hundreds of visitors 
the true secret of making coffee. 

Any work like this in South America 
would call for concerted action of some sort 
and perhaps the aid of the government. To 
be sure, many private enterprises are at pres- 
ent doing what they can in this direction. 
The results they obtain, however, are slight 
and will be until the volume of effort shall 
somehow be greatly increased. 

After speaking thus vaguely of the ob- 
stacles that beset our path to South Amer- 
ican trade, let me touch upon some of them 
more definitely. To better our trade rela- 
tions, one of the first things we must do is 
greatly to improve and increase the present 
facilities in lines of communication and 
transportation. We must have our own car- 
rying vessels for we can not continue forever 
[151] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

to depend upon slow, foreign lines if we are 
to equal, to say nothing of surpassing, the 
promptness of the European shipper. The 
steamship lines on the west coast stop, as I 
have described, like local trains at every tiny 
port en route, and the one fairly good line 
between Rio de Janeiro and New York com- 
pares in no way with the first-class Transat- 
lantic lines. Improved service has been 
promised us again and again, but what 
American shippers need more than promises 
are American ships owned and managed by 
American capital. Until we have these it will 
always be a slow and diflScult matter for or- 
ders from South America to reach us, and 
equally as slow and diflScult for us to fill 
them. 

Then there must be devised some better 

system of banking and collections than at 

present exists between the two Americas. 

Now collections for the most part are made 

[152] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

on Europe, and American sellers find them- 
selves entirely unprotected against the fluc- 
tuations of the money-market and liable to 
charges at once unsatisfactory and exces- 
sive. This is not a simple matter to remedy, 
and I shall not hazard a suggestion where 
men who have studied the problem for years 
still find it too diflicult for solution. It is im- 
possible that it should be otherwise with a 
different monetary standard in every coun- 
try. It is true that the tendency of late years 
in the various countries of South America 
has been to put their money systems on a 
gold basis. But as we have found in the Phil- 
ippines, it takes something more than a gov- 
ernmental proclamation to make a new 
monetary system effective. 

In Brazil the monetary unit is a milreis 

valued in United States currency at $.54,6. 

The gold peso of the Argentine is quoted at 

$.96,5. The gold condor of Chile is worth 

[153] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

twenty gold pesos ^ and in our money $7.30. 
This puts the uncoined Chilean gold "peso at 
$.36,5. Since 1901, Peru has been on a gold 
basis with a libra corresponding to the Eng- 
lish £ sterling, and made up of ten soles rated 
in American money at $.48,7 each. Yet just 
as in the Philippines where the fluctuating 
Mexican silver still flourishes side by side 
with the new Philippine coinage, so in many 
of these countries, a debased currency still 
exists. In Brazil there is a silver milreis 
worth, when I was there, about $.23 or less 
than one-half a gold milreis; and there are 
corresponding paper or silver pesos in the 
Argentine, Chile, and Peru, which rise and 
fall in value almost daily. Therefore, though 
technically on a gold basis, the money of 
South America is in constant fluctuation and 
responds readily to the manipulations of 
speculators. 

The progress of American trade in South 
[ 154 ] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

America has very often been hampered by 
the class of representatives that we have sent. 
A smattering of Spanish or Portuguese does 
not, in my estimation, make up for incapac- 
ity as a salesman nor for ignorance of the 
products in hand. In choice between an in- 
different salesman who speaks the language 
and a good one who does not, I should ad- 
vise selecting the good salesman ; for with an 
interpreter he could do better work, or at 
least less harm, than the other man. But 
neither Spanish nor Portuguese are difficult 
languages to acquire, and a good salesman 
should certainly be willing to add to his effi- 
ciency by a little hard study. A man starting 
out with an interpreter and studying in spare 
moments should in three months' time have 
a good conversational command of the lan- 
guage. So I would say send good men to 
South America, even if they can't speak the 
language, and encourage them to study it as 
[155] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

they would anything at home which was dis- 
tinctly advantageous to their business ca- 
reers. 

The men sent to South America should 
not expect to use the same business methods 
that are in vogue here. The American sales- 
man believes that American business meth- 
ods are the best on earth. So they are — for 
the American. But the South American is 
very differently constituted from the Amer- 
ican, and many an argument that sells goods 
in Chicago avails nothing in Rio. For in- 
stance, one of the prime requisites of an arti- 
cle in America is that it should be "up-to- 
date." Now this quality of "up-to-dateness" 
appeals to the South American buyer very 
little. To something entirely new he much 
prefers what he has been accustomed to use. 
German and English salesmen understand 
this prejudice, and are ready to humour it 
rather than spend their time and energy in 
[156] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

efforts to change it. Consequently they very 
often succeed where the American salesman 
fails. 

At the present stage of our business rela- 
tions with South America the greatest care, 
and not carelessness, should be taken in the 
matter of filling orders. The existing preju- 
dice against some American products is di- 
rectly traceable to this. Then goods should 
be packed as the South American merchant 
wishes them, even if it is not the way in 
which we are accustomed to pack them. And 
if he prefers them billed in kilos, well and 
good ; let them be billed in kilos, and in what- 
ever language and money he desires. In such 
things the South American should be treated 
with every consideration, since he is the buy- 
er and, presumably, the man who meets the 
charges. All this is thoroughly understood by 
the European salesman, and should be by us. 
Lastly, I would suggest that more heads of 
[157] 



A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 

firms, business men of standing in their vari- 
ous lines, visit South America and see condi- 
tions for themselves. This would be not only 
advantageous to them in conducting the 
South American branches of their business, 
but, what is of greater and general import- 
ance, would prove to the South American 
merchants better than anything else could 
prove, that American merchants really are 
interested in South American trade to the 
very considerable extent of looking into it 
personally. The prevailing feeling in South 
America is that we care very little for South 
America or South American trade. Europe, 
on the other hand, protests vehemently that 
she cares much, and by her activity she 
proves what she says. Time and again I was 
told by the merchants and business men 
whom I called on, that I was the first head of 
a firm in my particular business who had 
ever made them a personal visit. Whether 
[158] 



IN SOUTH AMERICA 

this was accurately true or not matters little. 
It is enough that it shows conclusively the 
impression among South Americans that 
American heads of firms are prone to look 
upon South America as a negligible quan- 
tity. 

But South America is not a negligible 
quantity by any means. Now, as never be- 
fore, is the time to realize this, and while the 
United States is severing the connecting tie 
of land between the two Americas, American 
business men should be strengthening those 
other and closer ties of commerce and trade. 



THE END 



THE MCCLURE PRESS, NEW YORK 



SEP 21 1905 



